[Populations of circulating T lymphocytes in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis]

The characteristics, the origin and the role in the determinism and/or in the course of hepatocellular necrosis of immune disorders in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis still remain unclear. In this study, the T-lymphocyte population was determined by sheep-rosette formation and labelling with OKT3-monoclonal antibodies. T-cell subsets were investigated using OKT4 and OKT8 monoclonal antibodies in the peripheral blood of 40 alcoholic patients with cirrhosis (CA) and of 23 non-cirrhotic alcoholic (ANC) patients. The results were compared to those in 34 healthy volunteers. A decrease in the percentage of T-lymphocytes in the two groups of alcoholic subjects was noted. However, this decrease was significant only in the CA group and only when OKT3 antibodies were used as markers. The lymphocyte-subset identified by OKT4 antibodies was decreased as well in the CA and ANC groups; however the OKT8+ subset was significantly decreased in the CA group only (p less than 0.001). No correlation was found between this decrease in OKT8+ subpopulation or between the increased OKT4/OKT8 ratio and all biochemical parameters of hepatic function measured in this study. The significance of this T-cell imbalance in CA has still to be elucidated, concerning both the functional activity of the reduced pool of OKT8+ cells (suppressor or cytotoxic?) and the mechanism of this decrease.