Klareskog L, Scheynius A, Tjernlund U.
DOI: 10.2340/0001555566193199

The tissue distribution of T cells and interleukin-2 receptor bearing (Tac+) lymphocytes was studied immunohistochemically in frozen sections of biopsies from inflamed skin. In skin lesions caused by irritant or immunologic stimuli, relatively few (less than 5%) of the total dermal infiltrating T cells were Tac+, but in both types of conditions the Tac+ cells showed a predeliction for the epidermis. In skin lesions from patients with cutaneous T cell lymphoma a relatively high proportion of dermal T lymphocytes were Tac+. Tac+ as well as Tac- T lymphocytes may thus migrate to a tissue secondary to several different stimuli. The demonstration of a non-random distribution of Tac+ lymphocytes in the non-malignant inflammatory conditions in the present study indicate that the epidermis may have a special role in the activation of T lymphocytes.