Analysis of lymphocytes in tonsils and blood from patients with chronic tonsillitis.

A series of B, T and natural killer cell (NK) monoclonal antibodies was used to determine the distribution of lymphocyte subpopulations in cell suspensions obtained from tonsils of seventeen patients with chronic tonsillitis. The percentage of lymphocytes reacting with the monoclonal antibodies was determined by means of cytofluorometry. The majority of the tonsillar lymphocytes stained with the B-cell specific monoclonal antibody OKB-7. The T lymphocytes were composed of a majority of OKT4+ lymphocytes. Only a minority of the lymphocytes stained with the NK cell specific antibody Leu-7, whereas Leu-11b+ lymphocytes were virtually absent. In ten out of the seventeen patients T lymphocytes were purified from the tonsils and the blood and studied for the presence of the following activation antigens: OKT9, OKT10 and anti-HLA-Dr. These antigens were not detected on the membrane of these lymphocytes. This indicates that T lymphocytes activated in vivo express these antigens in a low amount.