Cells in lymph draining normal human skin-monoclonal antibody analysis

The immune cells which migrate into the human skin from the blood and subsequently leave it via lymph vessels play an important role in immune processes. We made use of the monoclonal antibodies, characterizing cell populations which migrate into the normal skin and which having traversed the tissue, could be recovered from the afferent lymph vessels. The percentage of OKM1+ cells (monocytes/macrophages, null cells) in lymph was low (8.9 +/- 1.6%) when compared to that of blood (16.5 +/- 4.6%) (p less than 0.05). The OKM1 antibody labeled only 40% of the large macrophage-like lymph cells. The percentage of OKT3+ (T cells) in lymph was higher (75.4 +/- 4.0%) than in blood (54.0 +/- 4.5%) (p less than 0.05) as was that of the OKT4+ (inducer/helper) subset (41.5 +/- 9.5 and 33.3 +/- 4.8%, p less than 0.05), while cells of the OKT8+ (suppressor/cytotoxic) subset were found to be less numerous in lymph than in blood. (18.4 +/- 6.2% and 20.3 +/- 4.9%, p less than 0.05). The OKI a1+ cell population consisted of large veiled macrophage-like cells and only very few small cells. Around 60% of the large mononuclear cells present in lymph reacted with OKT6 antibody specific for cortical thymocytes. The finding of high proportions of T cells, cells bearing la-like antigens, and a high inducer/suppressor ratio in normal prenodal lymph reflects the intensity of "physiological" immune processes in the normal skin.