[Abnormality of T cell subsets in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura].

Fifty patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and 50 normal controls were studied for T cell subsets using OKT monoclonal antibodies. These patients were found to have lower proportions of OKT4+ subset and higher proportions of OKT8+ ratio than the healthy controls. The perturbation was more severe in patients with active disease. A significant increase of OKT 4+8+ double-labelled cells deduced by a subtraction method was also observed in the peripheral blood of patients and an inverse correlation was demonstrated between the proportions of OKT4+8+ subset and the platelet counts. Furthermore, a positive correlation between the proportions of OKT4-8+ subset and the platelet counts was also found in patients with active ITP. These data suggest that abnormalities of T cell subsets in the peripheral blood may play an important role in the pathogenesis of ITP.