A study of porcine lymphocyte populations. II. Characterization of porcine lymphocyte populations.

The percentage of E rosette forming cells amounted to 26% of the blood lymphocytes and 34% of the spleen cells in German Landrace pigs. 10% of the live lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and 22% of the spleen cells were EAC rosette forming cells. The number of E rosettes could be increased by treatment of sheep erythrocytes with neuraminidase. The number of lymphoid cells reacting with protein A in the peripheral blood and in the spleen of pigs correlated well with the number of EAC rosette forming cells. The mitogens phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) are potent stimulators of pig lymphoid cells. The mitogenic stimulation of pig lymphocytes could not be influenced significantly by the removal of phagocytic cells. By neuraminidase treatment the mitogen induced stimulation rate was decreased. For the mitogenic stimulation of porcine lymphoid cells in the presence of PHA, Con A and PWM T cells were required. Bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) stimulated only B cells to a small degree.