Cytochemical findings in human nonneoplastic blood and tonsillar B and T lymphocytes

The cytochemical profiles of B and T lymphocytes from the bloods of eight normal donors and the tonsils of three normal individuals were studied. An intense and localized alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase (alpha-NAE) activity was found in the majority of blood and tonsillar T lymphcytes, in contrast to the very low alpha-NAE activity observed in the blood and tonsillar B lymphocytes. A very low percentage of tonsillar B lymphocytes had beta-glucuronidase (betaG) activity, while relatively normal betaG activity was observed in the tonsillar T lymphocytes and the blood B and T lymphocytes. Acid phosphatase (AcP) activities were found to be similar in both B and T lymphocytes from blood and tonsils. These findings suggest that the alpha-NAE reaction may be useful as a cytochemical marker for distinguished B from T lymphocytic proliferations. They also revealed that there is no appreciable difference in AcP and betaG activity between B and T lymphocytes obtained from the blood of normal donors.