Abstract
Monoclonal antibodies that recognize 'rheumatic' antigens of peripheral blood non-T cells were used to study the compartmentalization of such cells in peripheral blood and tonsils of individuals with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and suitable control subjects. The peripheral blood of most (71%) of the 42 individuals with RHD containing cells reacting with monoclonal antibody 83S19.23 or 256S.10, whereas these cells were present in only 17% of the 41 control subjects (P < .02). However, none of 21 individuals with RHD had such cells in their tonsils, although they were present in the tonsils of 50% of the 40 control subjects (P < .03). These results may reflect a failure in RHD of organ-specific homing of cells with epitopes recognized by the antibodies. The presence of these cells in tonsils may be important in the immune response to streptococcal pharyngeal infection, and their absence in RHD may be involved in the unusual immune responses characteristic of this disease.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 247-252 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| Volume | 155 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1987 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Received for publication 2 May 1986, and in revised form 11 August 1986. Informed consent was obtained from the individuals undergoing tonsillectomy, who donated peripheral blood and tonsillar tissue. This study was supported by research grant HL-30058 from the National Institutes of Health. We thank Z. Tavakoli, M. Verstegen, and Dr. Saied Morsy for technical assistance. Please address requests for reprints to Dr. E. D. Gray, Box 296, University of Minnesota Medical School, 420 Delaware Street S. E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455.
