The sensitivity of peripheral blood lymphocytes to growth inhibition by hydrocortisone is not determined by their OKT4:OKT8 ratio.

Normal adult human subjects show considerable variation in sensitivity to depression of the activation phase of mitogen-induced lymphocyte growth by the natural glucocorticoid, hydrocortisone. In a study of 21 subjects, the slope of the log-dose response to hydrocortisone was unrelated to the relative numbers of cells in the two major T-cell subpopulations stained by the OKT4 and OKT8 monoclonal antibodies. It is concluded that the extent of the glucocorticoid-induced suppression of early mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte growth is probably not determined by relative numbers of the various immunoregulatory lymphocytes.