[Studies on the gamma delta T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood in healthy adults].

Since gamma delta T lymphocytes has been found to be increased in patients with some immunological disorders, there exists clinical needs to determine the population of the cells in peripheral blood in normal subjects. We counted the number of gamma delta T lymphocytes in samples obtained from 151 healthy volunteers, aged from 20 to 69 years, by using a dual-color flow cytometry with fluorescence-conjugated CD3 and anti-TCR-gamma delta antibodies. Distribution ratio of gamma delta T lymphocytes among peripheral blood lymphocytes was 3.8 +/- 2.5% (range, 0.6-16.1%). Difference in the ratio and the number of gamma delta T lymphocytes among sex was not significant, but those decreased slightly but significantly with age.