Expansion of a T lymphocyte subpopulation (CD3+,4-,8-) after immunodepression associated with disseminated histoplasmosis.

A major subpopulation of T lymphocytes bearing a high density of CD3 (T3/Leu 4) with no detectable CD4 (T4/Leu 3a) or CD8 (T8/Leu 2a) was found in a patient with cardiomyopathy. Previously the patient had developed disseminated histoplasmosis which had been associated with a profound anergic state. The proportion of CD3+ lymphocytes that bore the phenotype CD3+,4-,8- has been increasing in the absence of reactivation of the histoplasmosis. The CD3+,4-,8- lymphocytes bound anti-CD2 but did not bind WT31, a monoclonal antibody specific for the alpha beta heterodimer of the T cell antigen receptor.