Identification of lymphocyte antigens in human dental pulps.

The aim of the experiment was to study the immune reaction of cells in both healthy and inflamed human dental pulps. For this it was necessary to identify, in particular, populations of lymphocytes in the pulp, and also other cells involved in the immune reaction. By using monoclonal antibodies which specifically recognize subpopulations of the T lymphocytes, we were able: 1) to directly determine the phenotype of the cells of the pulp, 2) to examine the interactions of the different cell populations. The study was based on 30 permanent human dental pulps and the method was that of indirect immunofluorescence on frozen sections. The monoclonal antibodies used were the antibodies OKT and anti-Leu of types anti-Leu1, anti Leu3a, OKT4, OKT8 and OK1a. The results obtained were evaluated statistically. Two important points stand out from this study: 1) in the healthy samples there is preferential localization of lymphocytes at the periphery of the pulp and 2) there is a predominance of the OKT8+ cytotoxic suppressor subpopulation in both the healthy and the inflamed pulps.