Reduction in peripheral blood K cells and activated T cells in primary biliary cirrhosis.

Lymphocyte subpopulations were measured in the peripheral blood of 13 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), 13 with chronic active hepatitis (CAH), and 16 age- and sex-matched normal subjects. A significant, relative and absolute, reduction in activated T cells and K cells, compared with that in normal subjects, was found in PBC but not in CAH. The reduction in K cells observed in PBC was found to be accompanied by a parallel decrease in lymphocyte-mediated antibody-dependent cytotoxicity.