ABSTRACT
Blood small lymphocyte (not exceeding 7.5 micron in diameter) counts obtained from patients with malignant bone tumors in the course of primary examination were 40-75% those in healthy subjects. The said changes were registered only in some patients with osteoblastoclastoma; they were not observed in cases of trauma, osteomyelitis, sepsis, spontaneous osteolysis and chronic synovitis. The study failed to establish a correlation between blood small lymphocyte count, on the one hand, and concentrations of total, stable and active T-lymphocytes as well as autologous E-rosettes, on the other. In the course of separation of lymphocytes in percoll density gradients, small lymphocytes concentrated in high density fractions. Purified small lymphocytes of healthy subjects appeared to be mainly T-lymphocytes, particularly, "activated" ones. Proliferative response to PHA and production of interleukin-2 in cell cultures showing high levels of small lymphocytes were higher than in those with moderate or low concentration of the said cells. Small lymphocytes are considered to be a special subset of T-cells which exhibit high functional activity and may be identified only morphologically. Lowered counts of these cells are attributed to neoplastic growth.
