Studies of intestinal lymphoid tissue. VII. The secondary nature of lymphoid cell "activation" in the jejunal lesion of tropical sprue.

Morphometric techniques were used in the evaluation of lymphocyte morphology and activity in tropical sprue. jejunal biopsies from control subjects (8), patients with epidemic disease (7), patients with endemic disease (11), and subjects who had recovered from sprue (4) were analyzed blindly. In patients with sprue, lymphocytes were increased significantly within crypt (but not surface) epithelium. Immunoblasts (greater than 6 mu in diameter) were increased by 5% over control subjects. Group means for lymphocytic mitotic indexes were also significantly raised, while flux ratios only differed significantly between endemic sprue patients and control subjects. The lymphocytic infiltration was distributed focally in the upper crypt and crypt-villus interzones. Analysis of epidemic cases (presenting within 4-28 days) revealed detectable changes in lymphocyte behavior only after 3 weeks' illness, whereas mucosal lesions and malabsorption were already established during the first week. These data indicate that lymphocyte activation, suggestive of a local cell-mediated immune reaction, does occur in tropical sprue but is secondary to damage already inflicted on enterocytes and their function.