Ileal Peyer's patch emigrants are predominantly B cells and travel to all lymphoid tissues in sheep.

The ileal Peyer's patch (PP) was selectively labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate by extracorporeal perfusion in 7-12 week-old lambs and the lymphocyte lineage and fate of the emigrants was determined by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. PP emigrants were found in all tissues examined, accounting for 10%-15% of ileal mesenteric lymph node (MLN). 1%-2% of jejunal MLN, jejunal PP, prescapular lymph node (PLN) and 3%-4% of spleen cells. All ileal PP emigrants enter the ileal MLN on their way to the circulation. Removal of the MLN prior to perfusion enabled emigrants to go directly to the circulation and extravasate in distant tissues faster than in intact animals. The ileal MLN might provide an additional level of regulation for ileal PP emigrants. The perfused ileal PP contained about 25 times more B cells than T cells. The emigrant cells found in different tissues included both T and B cells but came to reflect, although to a lesser degree, the B cell composition of the tissue from which they were derived. One day after perfusion the composition of PP emigrants was similar to that of the tissue within which they were found; the spleen was the exception with a bias towards B cells. By day 3 the ratio of B to T cells in the PP emigrants was 1 for jejunal MLN and PLN. 1.5 for ileal MLN and jejunal PP, and 4-5 for the spleen and blood. It was concluded that the PP-derived T cells were recirculating T cells that were in the ileal PP at the time of perfusion. These cells emigrated rapidly and equilibrated such that they accounted for about 1.5% of the T cell pool in various tissues. Most PP-derived B cells were probably produced in the PP. The greatest contribution (24.4%) that ileal PP emigrants made to the B cell pool of a tissue was with the ileal MLN through which they are obliged to pass. The contribution was lower but still very significant in blood (8.9%), spleen (6.8%), PLN (3.9%), jejunal MLN (3.5%) and jejunal PP (1.8%). There was no evidence that ileal PP emigrants made a greater relative contribution to either T or B cell populations in MLN or jejunal PP than to non-gut-associated sites. The B cells were distributed throughout the immune system, which is in accordance with the proposal that the ileal PP is a site of primary B cell genesis in sheep.