Abstract
A panel of monoclonal antibodies was used to determine the densities of T lymphocyte subsets in 48 jejunal biopsies of 35 children with coeliac disease (CD), 20 on gluten-free diet (GFD), 11 on normal diet and 17 on gluten challenge (GCh); and of 13 healthy controls. In lamina propria the age of the subject had a great influence on the T cell densities, with the numbers declining with age at a pace similar to that in peripheral blood in the control children. The correlation with the age was less obvious in CD patients. Among surface and crypt intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) the T suppressor cells predominated, and their numbers were significantly elevated on GCh as compared with CD patients on GFD, or the controls. The influence of the age on IEL T cell counts was negligible. A cell population bearing the “pan T” cell surface antigens but neither “T suppressor” nor “T helper” markers was identified within CD patients' IEL population, both on GFD and GCh. This cell population may be activated, and thus unable to express their cell surface antigens; or it may represent a unique cell population in the patients, relevant to the pathogenesis of coeliac disease.
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Verkasalo, M., Arato, A., Savilahti, E. et al. 44. JEJUNAL LYMPHOCYTE SUBSETS IN HEALTHY AND COELIAC CHILDREN. Pediatr Res 22, 103 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198707000-00065
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198707000-00065