Circulating lymphocyte subpopulations in Hashimoto thyroiditis.

Abstract

Peripheral blood and T and B lymphocytes and [125I]thyroglobulin-binding lymphocytes were investigated in twenty-two euthyroid Hashimoto thyroiditis patients and in twenty-two age- and sex-matched normal subjects. Although the total lymphocyte count in Hashimoto patients (mean±SEM = 1226±187/mm3) was lower than in normal subjects (1603±156/mm3) this difference was not statistically significant. There was, however, a statistically significant reduction in the proportion of circulating T lymphocytes in the Hashimoto patients (mean±SEM = 57·4±2·5%) as assessed by the sheep red-cell rosette method when compared with the normal controls (mean±SEM = 66·7±1·8%). The proportion of B lymphocytes in the peripheral blood as assessed by indirect immunofluorescence, was not significantly different being 21·6±2·1% in the Hashimoto patients and 20·2±1·1% in normal subjects.