The Influence of Mechanical Force on the Rosette Test for Human T Lymphocytes

The phenomenon of spontaneous nonimmune rosette formation between human lymphocytes and sheep erythrocytes has been investigated with respect to its sensitivity to mechanical trauma It is shown that tin percentage of rosettes depends on the strength of the force used to resuspend the lymphocyte‐erythrocyte pellet alter incubation but not on the duration of the resuspension procedure Differences between patients with chronic lymphatic leukemia and persons with normal percentages of T lymphocytes are clearly shown when the resuspension force is weak but not when a relatively strong force is used Practical and theoretical aspects of these findings are discussed