Cytochemical reactions of homozygous beta-thalassemic spleens

Splenic cells from 10 homozygous beta-thalassemic patients were stained using cytochemical reactions: non specific esterase and acid phosphatase. Spleens from nonthalassemic subjects: a normal case who underwent gastric surgery and 5 idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, were also studied to serve as the control. In thalassemic spleens, no positive dot cell was shown in periarteriolar lymphocyte sheaths (PALS) when they were stained with both nonspecific esterase and acid phosphatase. In contrast, dot positive reaction was demonstrated in 92 per cent of cells from a normal spleen. These cells were presumably T lymphocytes. There were two possibilities to explain our study 1) the absence of T lymphocytes in the PALS of white pulps in homozygous thalassemia may have an impact on the immune system related to infection complication in thalassemia 2) T lymphocytes in the thalassemic spleen may be present but they do not give a positive ANAE dot reaction.