Decreased Levels of Helper T Cells in Pregnancy

To the Editor: In the paper by Sridama et al. (August 5 issue) data were presented showing decreased numbers of helper T cells in pregnancy.* We would like to present our observations of T-cell subpopulations in 20 women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Using Ortho monoclonal antibodies (OKT4 and OKT8) and a method similar to that used by Sridama et al., we found no important difference between pregnant women and controls in terms of the percentage of OKT4 (helper/inducer)-positive cells (Fig. 1). However, a marked reduction in OKT8 (suppressor/cytotoxic)-positive cells (P