Peripheral blood T and B lymphocytes during acute rheumatic fever

Proportions and total numbers of thymus-derived (T) and bone marrow-derived (B) peripheral blood lymphocytes were studied in 53 patients with acute rheumatic fever, diagnosed on the basis of modifified Jones criteria. An elevation in both proportions and absolute numbers of cells bearing surface Ig was found in most patients, particularly during the first 7 days after onset. Conversely, T-cell proportions and numbers were often found to be depressed early in the acue phases of rheumatic fever. Proportions of cells bearing surface Ig did not correlate with another B-cell marker, the aggregated gamma globulin receptor, suggesting that such cells bearing surface Ig were not all B lymphocytes. Incuvation for 20 h at 37 per cent C of cells showing high proportions of surface Ig-bearing surface Ig in both normal and rheumatic fever subjects, although there was no appreciable increment in proportions of lymphocytes expressing T-cell markers. Patients with initial attacks showed higher percentages and total numbers of Ig-bearing lymphocytes (P smaller than 0.01) than did those with rneumatic fever recurrences. Elevations in numbers and proportions of peripheral blood lymphocytes bearing Ig appeared to correlate with the relative acute nature of the rheumatic fever attack.