Differential migration of T and B cells during an acute inflammatory response

Abstract

Inflammation in the liver and mammary glands of sheep caused by challenge infection with Taenia hydatigena or infusion of killed Staphylococcus aureus, respectively were characterized by the recruitment of both T and B cells. The patterns of migration of these two major lymphocyte subpopulations were distinctly different. While T cells seemed to migrate out of existing, flat endothelium-lined blood vessels resulting in a diffuse distribution at the sites of inflammation, B cells were characteristically present as clusters of tightly packed cells at restricted sites in the inflamed tissue. Within these B cell clusters distinct capillary vessels lined with plumb endothelial cells were always present suggesting that they were the sites of intense migration of B cells originating from the draining lymph nodes. These results indicate differential regulation of adhesion molecules on B and T cells and/or their ligands on endothelium during acute inflammatory reactions.