Specificity of the suppressor cell activity of intestinal lymphocytes

Experiments were designed to examine the functional characteristics of lymphocytes harvested from the human intestine. Lymphocytes were harvested from the intestines of patients undergoing intestinal resection for a variety of gut disorders. The mitogenic and allogeneic responses of gut lymphocytes were found to be comparable with the response of peripheral blood lymphocytes. Intestinal suppressor cell activity was found to be more specific against other intestinal lymphocytes than peripheral mononuclear cells. The regulation of the intestinal immune response in various bowel disorders may be determined at a local level to a greater degree than had been previously appreciated.