[Immunophenotyping of epithelioid-cell granulomas in sarcoidosis]

The specimens of biopsy of the lung and lymph nodes from 24 patients with sarcoidosis were immunophenotyped. The monoclonal antibody panel for immunophenotyping the monocyte-macrophage cells included HLA-DR, CD64, CD163; CD7, CD3, CD4, CD8, HLA-DR, and CD20 were used to assess lymphocytic populations. In sarcoidosis, the majority of cell elements of a granuloma are in a state of activation, as evidenced by HLA-DR expression on the epithelioid, giant cells, T lymphocytes (which was observed in more than in 90% of cases), the extent of this expression decreasing as fibrosis develops. There is a statistically significant correlation between the presence of individual lymphocytic subpopulations and monocyte-macrophage cells in the granuloma. No clear relationship of the phenotype of a granuloma to the clinical form (stage) of sarcoidosis suggests that is based on the common self-sustaining process of formation, functioning, and involution of granulomas, which has no direct agreements in the X-ray and laboratory manifestations of the disease.