Abstract
Thein vivo effects of corticotherapy on thymocyte subpopulations have been evaluated in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). Ten patients receiving high-dose, long-term treatment were studied and compared with two control groups (MG untreated patients and normal agematched subjects). In the treated group, the thymus was generally involuted; the percentage of OKT6+ or OKT4+T8+ thymocytes was profoundly decreased compared to controls. A significant percentage of OKT10− cells was detected particularly among older patients, suggesting steroid-induced immigration. Conversely the percentage of more mature OKT3+ cells was increased. The balance between OKT4+T8− and OKT4−T8+ cells was unchanged in young patients (<40 years old) and increased in the older group. These data show that, as in the mouse, corticosteroids profoundly alter human thymocyte subsets.
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Berrih, S., Safar, D., Levasseur, P. et al. Thein vivo effects of corticosteroids on thymocyte subsets in myasthenia gravis. J Clin Immunol 4, 92–97 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00915041
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00915041