Chest
Clinical InvestigationsT and B Lymphocytes in Pleural Effusions
Section snippets
Material and Methods
The series consisted of 30 adult patients admitted to our hospital for diagnostic evaluation of unilateral or bilateral pleural effusion. The final etiologic diagnosis was based upon clinical, radiologic and laboratory findings. Determinations of total and differential cell counts, total protein, glucose and antinuclear factor were made from the pleural fluid of all patients. Rheumatoid factor was sought in all pleural fluids by the Waaler-Rose and latex fixation tests. All pleural fluids were
Results
Table 1 shows that the total number of T and B lymphocytes in peripheral blood in patients with pleural effusion and in the controls was the same. In patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, pulmonary malignancy, connective tissue disease, nonspecific pleurisy or congestive cardiac failure, the total number of lymphocytes (cells × 109/L) in pleural fluid was similar to that in peripheral blood.
In all patients except those with pulmonary tuberculosis, the percentages of T lymphocytes in pleural
Discussion
T and B lymphocytes have been studied in normal and abnormal body fluids and tissues, eg, synovial fluid,8, 9 synovial tissue,10, 11, 13 and cerebrospinal fluid.6, 7, 19 From these studies it has emerged that the true proportions of these lymphocytes in body fluids are poorly reflected in peripheral blood. The results of our study of T and B lymphocytes in pleural fluid seems to corroborate this view.
This work is based on a generally accepted method for the detection of T and B lymphocytes.20,
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Cited by (54)
Chronic follicular pleuritis: a B cell–rich form of nonspecific pleuritis/fibrosis
2019, Human PathologyCitation Excerpt :These monikers apply when no malignancy, granulomatous disease, pleural vasculitis, or bacterial or fungal infection is identified at time of biopsy. NSP is most often associated with an exudative pleural effusion, rich in T cells when subjected to flow cytometric and immunohistochemical analysis [13-17]. In a provisional review of 32 cases of nonspecific pleuritis with idiopathic pleural effusion, I identified a pattern of pleural inflammation that can be termed “chronic follicular pleuritis (CFP)”.
Subpopulations of helper T lymphocytes in tuberculous pleurisy
2013, TuberculosisCitation Excerpt :Tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) results from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection of the pleura and is characterized by an intense chronic accumulation of inflammatory cells in pleural space.3,4 Actually, tuberculosis is the major cause of pleural effusions in areas of high tuberculosis prevalence, and CD4+ T cells are a dominant population in TPE.5,6 More recently, it has been shown that after stimulation with MTB-specific antigens, CD4+CD69+ T cells expressed significantly higher levels of IFN-γ, IL-2 and TNF-α than CD4+CD69− T cells did, demonstrating that CD4+CD69+ T cells were MTB-specific helper T cells (Th1) cells.7
Tuberculous pleural effusions
2003, European Journal of Internal MedicineCitation Excerpt :In addition to destroying antigen-presenting cells, they can suppress CD4+ cells and cytotoxic cells and inhibit the differentiation and maturation of B cells, thereby providing negative feedback control of the immune response. In TPE cases, the T-cell count is significantly greater in pleural fluid than in peripheral blood (whereas there is no such difference for other pleural effusions) and the reverse holds for B lymphocytes [28]. In fact, the difference between T-cell counts at the site of inflammation and in peripheral blood has been observed in studies of pleural fluid and/or bronchoalveolar lavage in all three of the major granulomatous lung diseases (tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, and berylliosis) [29–31].
The possible role of cerebrospinal fluid adenosine deaminase activity in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis in adults
2002, Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery
Manuscript received February 10; revision accepted May 10.