Studies on Lymphoid Cells of Adenoid Tissue in Relation to Clinical Findings

Adenoid tissue was obtained at operation in 27 children admitted for adenoidectomy and in 6 controls. The occurrence of cells with cytoplasmic immunoglobulin was studied by immunofluorescence of tissue sections, and localization, number of cells and class of immunoglobulin were determined. No differences were found between patients and controls. Mononuclear leucocytes isolated from adenoid tissue and from blood were compared. In the patients, the proportions of B lymphocytes were higher in the tissue than in the blood, in particular IgG-, IgM- and IgD-carrying cells. Stimulation in vitro with polyclonal activators induced less thymidine incorporation in adenoid cells than in blood cells. Stimulation with heat-killed Haemophilus influenzae induced a high response in adenoid cells from 7/20 patients with negative nasopharyngeal culture for H influenzae, whereas all 7 patients who harboured H. influenzae in the nasopharynx were low responders.