Influence of operative trauma on circulating blood mononuclear cells: analysis using monoclonal antibodies.

The influence of operative trauma on the quantity and proportion of cooperating mononuclear cells in peripheral blood of patients with stage 0 uterine cancer who underwent hysterectomy was studied using monoclonal antibodies. The percentage of OKM1+ cells (monocytes) had increased on day 1 by 12.4%, on day 3 by 24.8%, and had returned to normal by day 7. The percentage of large OKIa1+ cells (expressing Ia antigen) on day 1 was increased by 186.9%, while on day 3 it had returned to a normal level. There was a decrease on day 1 of the number and percentage of OKT3+ cells (all T lymphocytes) by 17.4%, OKT4+ cells (helper/inducer cells) by 27.9%, OKT8+ cells (suppressor/cytotoxic cells) by 24.6%, and small OKIa1+ cells by 49.4%. The number and percentage of T lymphocytes remained below the preoperative level throughout the observation period. However, the number of helper cells had increased significantly on day 5, while suppressor cells remained below the preoperative level during the entire observation period. The rising ratio of OKT4+/OKT8+ cells reflected the kinetics of recovery of the helper over the suppressor cell population.