Mitogen-induced blastogenesis of peripheral blood and efferent lymph lymphocytes from sheep

Peripheral blood lymphocytes and efferent lymph lymphocytes (ELL) from 20 healthy adult sheep were studied for their blastogenic responses to the phytolectins concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin, and pokeweed mitogen. Peripheral blood lymphocytes generally incorporated significantly (P less than 0.00001) more [3H]thymidine than did ELL. The lower response in ELL, especially in concanavalin A- and pokeweed mitogen-stimulated cultures, may be due to an insufficiency of accessory cells that may be required for optimal proliferation.