Summary
T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood from 11 newly diagnosed Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients were studied prospectively at three time intervals: as soon as possible after diagnosis, 3 weeks and 5 months later. Lymphocytes were marked with monoclonal OKT antibodies and examined in a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. The percentage of T lymphocytes (OKT 3) did not change significantly at the three study times. The percentage of helper/inducer T cells (OKT 4) was high the first week after diagnosis, but decreased at the 5-month examination (p<0.05). The percentage of suppressor/cytotoxic T cells (OKT 8) was low at diagnosis but increased at 3 weeks (p<0.02) and 5 months (p<0.01). The ratio OKT4/OKT8 lymphocytes was 2.28 at diagnosis, decreasing to 1.77 at 3 weeks and 1.87 at 5 months, compared with 1.46 for 16 age-matched control subjects. There was no significant change in the absolute number of lymphocytes. It is concluded that the distribution of T cell subsets was abnormal at the time of diagnosis, but changed towards normal within a few weeks, after which there was no significant change at 5 months. It is as yet unknown whether the high proportion of helper/inducer T cells and/or the low percentage of suppressor/cytotoxic T cells at diagnosis favour immune reactions involved in the pathogenesis of Type 1 diabetes.
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Buschard, K., Röpke, C., Madsbad, S. et al. T lymphocyte subsets in patients with newly diagnosed Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes: A prospective study. Diabetologia 25, 247–251 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00279938
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00279938