TANNIC-ACID STAINING MATERIAL ON HIGH ENDOTHELIAL VENULES AND LYMPHOCYTES IN SKIN AND PERIPHERAL LYMPH-NODES IN STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS-ASSOCIATED ERYTHRODERMA

The recognition and binding of glycoprotein receptors on lymphocytes to specific antigens present on high endo‐thelial venules (HEV) precedes the egress of lymphocytes from the blood stream into the tissues. In this paper, we report the presence of HEVs with tannic‐acid staining material (TASM+ HEVs) in Staphylococcus aureus‐associated erythroderma, which allow the migration of CD8+ lymphocytes from the bloodstream into the epidermis. TASM positivity is also expressed on lymphocytes within the regional lymph nodes, and by intravascular lymphocytes prior to leaving the TASM+ HEV. It is proposed that TASM positivity may represent a molecule, which may function in binding lymphocytes to HEVs prior to egress from the HEV. (TASM is lost from lymphocytes after leaving the HEVs.) The expression of TASM positivity may form an essential part of the CDS+ lymphocyte‐HEV recognition system, and may be the means whereby CD8+ lymphocytes generated in the regional lymph nodes by various mitogens (in this case by staphylococcal mitogens) may ‘home’ to specific sites within the epidermis. TASM positivity on both the HEVs and lymphocytes may serve as a convenient marker of such a system. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved