Abstract
Lymphoid cells containing cytoplasmic IgM but lacking stable surface IgM are believed to be the direct precursors of B lymphocytes. We have characterized these pre-B cells in the bone marrow of normal individuals and patients with a variety of immunoglobulin deficiencies or hematologic disorders by using immunofluorescence and autoradiography. Pre-B cells comprised 5.8 ± 5.7% of lymphoid cells in normal bone marrow. Eleven patients with infantile X-linked agammaglobulinemia (X-LA) lacked B lymphocytes but had a normal frequency (3.8 ± 3.6%) of bone marrow pre-B cells. A smaller proportion of marrow pre-B cells from patients with X-LA were engaged in spontaneous DNA synthesis than was found for normal controls. In individuals other than the group with X-LA, the number of circulating B cells was positively correlated with the frequency of marrow pre-B cells. These results indicate that patients with X-LA have a defect in maturation of pre-B cells, and suggest that some patients with acquired B lymphocyte deficiency may have lost the capacity to generate pre-B cells from stem cells.
Footnotes
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↵2 Correspondence should be addressed to: Elliott R. Pearl, M.D., 224 Tumor Institute, University of Alabama in Birmingham, University Station, Birmingham, Alabama 35294.
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↵3 Alexander R. Lawton is recipient of a Research Career Development Award, AI 70780.
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↵1 This work was supported by Grants CA 16673, CA 13148, and 1 F32 CA 05776, awarded by the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, AI 11502 and 1 F32 AI 05356, awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, DHEW; 5M01-RR32, awarded by National Institutes of Health, and 1–354, awarded by The National Foundation, March of Dimes.
- Received November 25, 1977.
- Accepted January 9, 1978.
- Copyright © 1978 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.
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