Immune responses during human schistosomiasis mansoni. IX. T-lymphocyte subset analysis by monoclonal antibodies in hepatosplenic disease.

T lymphocyte immunoregulatory subsets (T4+ and T8+ cells) have been analysed in eight cases of hepatosplenic schistosomiasis mansoni, and compared to parallel analyses of seven intestinal Schistosoma mansoni-infected patients and four uninfected control subjects. The mean T4+:T8+ ratio in hepatosplenic cases was markedly less than observed in other groups (0.94 vs 1.86 vs 2.22, respectively). Proliferative responses stimulated by a soluble adult worm extract correlated directly with the observed T4:T8 ratios. Normal levels of E rosette-positive and surface immunoglobulin-bearing lymphoid cells were observed in intestinal patients, while hepatosplenic patients demonstrated normal B lymphocyte proportions but highly erratic E rosette-positive percentages. Curiously, in hepatosplenic patients the percentage of E rosette-positive cells often did not correlate with the proportion of T3+ cells.