[Cytogenetic and immunological methods of evaluating the infectious and vaccinal processes in exposure to the mumps...

Chromosomal changes in T-lymphocytes of the peripheral blood reflect their participation in immune responses. In particular, the level of the associative index of acrocentric chromosomes (AIAC) depends upon their proliferative activity in response to antigens and migration in the host. The degree of cytogenetic and serological changes in patients with mumps was higher than in children of the other groups examined. A relationship was found between the level of AIAC in T-lymphocytes and a rise in the antihemagglutinin titres at the expense of changes in the portion of T-lymphocytes with 0 and 2 chromosomes in associations, some of them being activated with mumps virus antigens. The correlation between AIAC and the lymphocyte blast-transformation reaction to phytohemagglutinins was variable in different groups of children and absent between AIAC and the amount of serum immunologlobulins. In combination with other immunological methods AIAC in T-lymphocytes of the blood may be used for characterization of the immune response.