NATURAL-KILLER CYTOTOXICITY AND LYMPHOCYTE SUBPOPULATIONS IN PATIENTSWITH ACUTE-LEUKEMIA

We have studied lymphocyte subpopulations and the NK cytotoxicity of t he PBMC from acute leukemia patients in complete remission after chemo therapy or ABMT and from normal donors. We have found a positive linea r correlation between the percentage of subpopulations with CD3-CD16+, CD3-CD56+ and CD3-CD8+ phenotypes and the percentage of NK cytotoxici ty. The slopes of the regression lines in the two groups of patients w ere lower than in normal donors, indicating a decreased ability of the se cells to operate. The percentages of these subpopulations represent parameters for estimating the percentage of NK cytotoxicity both in n ormal donors and in patients with acute leukemia.