Motile blood lymphocytes in B- and T-lymphocyte disorders. 1. Studies of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and X-linked hypogammaglobulinemia

The relative frequency of blood lymphocytes in a motile configuration was determined by interference contrast microscopy in adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a B-cell malignancy, and in children with X-linked hypogammaglobulinemia, a genetic B-cell deficiency. The relative frequency of motile lymphocytes was sharply reduced in CLL, but remained normal or slightly increased in X-linked hypogamaglobulinemia. The number of motile lymphocytes in both diseases correlated with the number of circulating T cells as shown by E rosetting, but did not correlate with the number of B cells as determined by membrane-bound immunoglobulins. It appears, therefore, that lymphocyte motility is a functional morphological marker of T cells in certain immunologic diseases as well as in healthy individuals.