Immunohistological studies on tonsils of recurrent tonsillitis and tonsils with focal infections

In this study, two experiments were made to investigate the immunological pathogenesis of PPP, a skin disease of so-called focal infections. One was the immunohistological study on tonsils with PPP and recurrent tonsillitis. In the investigation, monoclonal antibodies against T lymphocytes and anti-immunoglobulin antibodies were used to reveal the distribution of T and B cell subsets on frozen sections of tonsils. But no difference between tonsils with focal infection and recurrent tonsillitis was observed in the distribution of T and B cell subsets. The other was the identification of a common antigen between tonsillar epithelium of PPP and hand-sole skin by use of one monoclonal antibody against PPP-tonsillar epithelium, which was made in our laboratory. Monoclonal antibody ATE-3 was in IgM, and recognized about 35 kilo dalton molecular weight protein of a tonsillar epithelium of PPP. This antibody reacted with the basal layer cells of the tonsillar epithelium and the suprabasilar cells of plantar skins of PPP. But ATE-3 did not react with normal tonsillar epithelium and normal plantar skin.