Migration Pathways of T Lymphocytes in the Small Intestine

Abstract

There seems little doubt that T cells as well as B lymphocytes participate in immune processes in the gut, including defense reactions such as expulsion of nematodes (1) and pathological changes such as villous atrophy and malabsorption (2), but until recently most studies on lymphocyte migration to the gut (summarized by Hall [3], this volume) have been preoccupied with the delivery of immunoglobulin producing (B) cells to the lamina propria. Here we summarize experiments designed to redress the balance by exploiting our recent finding that T blast migration to the gut mucosa is enhanced early after the infection of mice with T. spiralis. We emphasize the need in cell traffic studies to the gut to differentiate between 1) lymphocytes migrating to organized aggregates of lymphoid tissue such as Peyer’s patches and those in the lamina propria; 2) the source of lymphoblasts whether peripheral or mesenteric, whether T or B and whether the gut is normal or inflamed.