PREFERENTIAL LOCALIZATION OF HUMAN-LYMPHOCYTES BEARING GAMMA-DELTA-T-CELL RECEPTORS TO THE RED PULP OF THE SPLEEN

About 4% of human T cells carry antigen receptor composed of γ and δ chains (rather than α and β chains). Double immunoenzymatic staining of frozen sections of 14 samples of human spleen showed that γδ bearing T cells were preferentially localised in the red pulp of this organ where on average they accounted for 17% of all T cells. There was no correlation between the number of γδ T cells and the diagnosis, with the exception of a case of malaria in which an unusually high number (40%) of T cells were of this type. The γδ bearing T cells were scattered randomly through the red pulp, and double staining combined with a marker of splenic sinusoids (CD36) showed that almost all lie outside the sinusoids within the cords of the red pulp. It is suggested that the double immunoenzymatic technique could be used for further studies of the prevalence of γδ bearing T cells in lymphocytic infiltrates.