LYMPHOCYTES BEARING THE GAMMA-DELTA T-CELL RECEPTOR IN ACUTE TOXOPLASMOSIS

Although the relative and absolute numbers of CD3+ cells (T lymphocytes) were similar in eight children with acquired Toxoplasma gondii infection and 10 uninfected age- and sex-matched healthy controls, the proportion of cells bearing the gamma-delta-T-cell receptor was significantly higher in the subjects with acute toxoplasmosis. The great majority of gamma-delta-T cells from the infected patients expressed covalently bound gamma-delta-chains on their surface, i.e. were BB3+ lymphocytes. Since the gamma-delta-T-cell subsets exert both restricted and unrestricted major histocompatibility complex cytotoxicity, further research is needed to elucidate the role of gamma-delta T cells in the control of this coccidian protozoan infection.