Subpopulations of T lymphocytes in patients with chronic active liver disease

Subpopulations of peripheral blood T lymphocytes (T gamma and T mu) were investigated in 36 patients with chronic liver disease. T lymphocytes decreased in percentage in all patients, except in those with chronic persistent hepatitis. In contrast, the absolute numbers did not differ from those of controls, except in patients with cirrhosis, who showed decreased values for circulating T cells. The absolute and percentage values of T gamma were increased in patients with CAH and cirrhosis but not in patients with CPH. All groups of patients with CLD showed a decrease in the absolute and percentage numbers of T mu, but patients with CPH showed absolute values similar to those of the controls. The role of this imbalance in the T cell subsets in CALD is briefly discussed.