Cellular subsets of the milky spots in the human greater omentum.

The cellular composition of the human milky spots was investigated on surgically removed specimens of the greater omentum of three 8-month-old infants operated on for neuroblastoma. Monoclonal antibodies and immunohistochemical methods for recognition of macrophages. B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes and toluidine-blue staining for mast cells were used. The mean number of cells in one milky spot amounted to 570 +/- 33. This cell population was composed of 47.5% macrophages, 29.1% B-lymphocytes, 11.7% T-lymphocytes and 6.1% mast cells. Since inflammation was absent in the material investigated, the numerical data found in the present paper could be regarded as representative cell levels of normal milky spots.