T rosettes in alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver

M. R. Berenyi, B. Straus and L. Avila

Thirty patients with alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver were studied for in vivo and in vitro correlates of cellular immunity. Seventy-seven percent failed to be sensitized to dinitrochlorobenzene, indicating impairment of the in vivo cellular immune response. A significant decrease in the number of T-rosette-forming cells was observed in this group of patients (.01 smaller than P smaller than .025). This finding suggests that the active T-rosette test is a valuable tool in detecting partial alterations in cell-mediated immunity in alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. Our results also suggest that rosette formation is a more sensitive indicator of cell-mediated immunity than phytohemagglutinin-stimulated blastogenesis in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver.