B- and T-lymphocytes in toxic diffuse goitre.

Operation specimens of thyroid tissue from patients with Graves' disease were digested, with collagenase, down to a cell suspension. The lymphocytes in the suspension were concentrated by density-gradient sedimentation and the proportions of B and T lymphocytes were determined. Six patients with Graves' disease were studied. The proportions of B and T lymphocytes in the thyroid glands were similar to the proportions of B and T lymphocytes in the venous blood from healthy subjects.