Blood and tissue analysis of T-cell subsets in cutaneous diseases.

The development of monoclonal antibodies which recognize antigenic determinants on lymphoid cells has resulted in the immunologic analysis of a wide variety of diseases where disturbance of the immune system is believed to be important in pathogenesis. These reagents may be used to scrutinize cell suspensions, like blood and lymphoid cells in tissues. The diseases to be discussed in this review are lupus erythematosus, leprosy, sarcoidosis, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, and parapsoriasis. The specificity of the monoclonal antibodies used is shown in tabulated form.