[Phenotype study of blood T lymphocytes in alcoholic hepatopathies]

Abstract

Peripheral blood T lymphocytes and T lymphocytes subsets have been quantified by an indirect immunofluorescence technique using monoclonal antibodies, in 10 patients with fatty liver, 8 with acute alcoholic hepatitis (AAH), 10 with inactive cirrhosis and 7 with cirrhosis and AAH. Twenty normal subjects were studied as controls. As compared to controls (1.81 +/- 0.56 10(9)/l), we found a reduced number of peripheral T lymphocytes (OKT3+) in patients with inactive cirrhosis (0.98 +/- 0.45, p less than 0.001) and in patients with cirrhosis and AAH (1.22 +/- 0.51, p less than 0.02). The OKT4 to OKT8 ratio was normal in patients with fatty liver or inactive cirrhosis, but it was significantly higher in patients with AAH with or without cirrhosis (2.83 +/- 0.79, p less than 0.01, and 2.10 +/- 0.56, p less than 0,02, respectively) than in controls (1.68 +/- 0.24). In both groups, this increased ratio was due to a decreased proportion of OKT8+ circulating lymphocytes (19.2 +/- 6.7 p. 100, p less than 0.01, and 21.8 +/- 4.6 p. 100, p less than 0.02, respectively) when compared to controls (27.1 +/- 4.1 p. 100). The T-cell imbalance observed in patients with liver cell necrosis may be of importance in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease.