Abstract
Correlation of T-cell markers of peripheral lymphocytes with suppressor-T cell function was investigated in various liver diseases, especially in viral hepatitis. Transformation of T-lymphocytes by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was determined by Hayakawa's method and suppressor T cell function was estimated by Fauci's method. In chronic active hepatitis and progressive liver cirrhosis, the rate of T-lymphocyte transformation by PHA and rosette forming cells (RFC) around the sheep erythrocyte were mostly decreased. On the contrary, serum inhibitors against cell-mediated immunity including α2-macroglobulin were generally increased. Also, suppressor-T cell function was decreased in the cases of chronic active hepatitis and progressive liver cirrhosis and 51Cr-labeled T-lymphocytes were transfered to the liver and also a high uptake of radiocativities on the liver surface was observed in chronic active hepatitis. In respect to hepatitis B surfaced antigen (HBsAg), both T-lymphocyte transformation by PHA and suppressor-T cell function were decreased in asymptomatic HBsAg carriers, whereas they were nearly normal in acute exacerbation of HBsAg carriers. In murine viral hepatitis, the thymocytes act suppressively on antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) acting on normal and infected hepatocytes in the mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) stimulated thymocytes group, whereas they act stimulatively in the MHV unstimulated thymocytes group.
