The percentage of mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cells that co-expressed both CD4 and CD8 was found to be from 5 to 7% in BALB/c and AKR/N mice bred under conventional conditions. In mice maintained under specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions, the percentage fell below 2%. When mice were infected with an attenuated strain of Salmonella enteritidis (SER), the percentage of CD4+CD8+ cells in MLN rose to 20-30% transiently. In these mice, the total cell number and the percentage of CD8+ cells were not changed, but the CD4+ cell percentage was decreased. The expression intensity of TCR-alpha beta on CD4+CD8+ cells in the infected mice was higher in the MLN than in the thymus, but was similar to that of mature peripheral T cells. Among the CD4+CD8+ cell population in MLN, TCR-V beta 3+ cells were deleted but V beta 6+ cells were present in BALB/c mice which possess endogenous superantigen Mls-2a, but lack Mls-la. In AKR mice with the inverse of the occurrence of the superantigens, TCR-V beta 3+ cells were present and V beta 6+ cells were absent. These data suggest that CD4+CD8+ cells in the MLN of SER-infected mice may belong to thymus-derived mature T cells undergoing negative selection and that they may appear following exogenous stimulation.