[Lack of T lymphocytes expressing CD4 antigen during pollenosis]

T lymphocyte subpopulations by monoclonal antibodies have been studied in 17 atopic asthmatics and 17 normal subjects age and sex matched, we found a significant decrease of total T lymphocytes with significant decrease of CD4 antigen bearing cells in the patients, the pollenogenic asthmatics being responsible for this difference with the controls. We did not find any study of the literature evaluating T lymphocyte subpopulations in atopic patients with regard to allergen type. The pathogenic hypothesis are discussed.