The effect of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rH‐TNF) on the composition and natural killer (NK)‐activity of lymphocytes in the spleen of normal and tumor‐bearing CBA mice was investigated. The characterization of cell composition was based on the analytical separation of splenic subpopulations differing in electrophoretic mobility. In untreated tunor mice, an increase of the electrophoretically intermediate population was found at the final stage of tumor growth. Treatment with TNF depressed this intermediate cell population in the spleen of tumorbearing mice, the electrophoretic distribution of splenocytes approaching the normal pattern. Also in normal mice TNF treatment affected the electrophoretic pattern. Already the first injection of TNF induced an increase of the intermediate cell population in the spleen. Tumor‐bearing mice showed a decreased NK‐activity at the final stage. In normal but not in tumor‐bearing mice repeated injections of TNF seemed to depress the NK‐activity. Cell electrophoresis represents a useful method for evaluating the effect of TNF on the cell populations in the spleen of mice.

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