COMPARISON OF LYMPHOKINE SECRETION AND MESSENGER-RNA EXPRESSION IN THE CD45RA(-BLOOD CD4(+) AND CD8(+) LYMPHOCYTES() AND CD45RO(+) SUBSETS OF HUMAN PERIPHERAL)

Flow cytometric analysis of human peripheral blood T lymphocytes demon strated that the majority of the CD4(+) cells were CD29(+) or CD45RO() ''mature'' cells while the CD8(+) cells were primarily CD45R4(+) ''n aive'' cells. After an initial separation into CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells and a secondary separation into CD45 subsets, lymphokine secretion wa s assessed after phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin or fixe d anti-CD3 stimulation. Within the respective CD45 subsets, CD4(+) cel ls produced more interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, and IL-6; but the CD8(+) ce lls secreted more interferon-gamma and granulocyte/macrophage-colony-s timulating factor. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha secretion was similar i n the matched CD45 subsets. Northern analysis revealed a parallel patt ern of lymphokine mRNA expression in the four lymphocyte subsets. Thes e results suggest that human CD8(+) peripheral blood lymphocytes have a significant capacity to secrete lymphokines, and that the low lympho kine production observed in unseparated CD8(+) cells reflects the high er percentage of less functional CD45RA(+) cells.