Elevated CD3^low double negative T lymphocyte is associated with pneumonia and its severity in pediatric patients.

Ying Wang; Wenting Lu; Aipeng Li; Zhengyi Sun; Liying Wang

Background. Previous studies have shown that the adaptive immunity function of T cells in disease states correlates with CD3 surface expression closely. During routine assessment of TBNK subsets in peripheral blood of pediatric patients by flow cytometry, we noticed that variable expression levels of CD3 on CD3 CD4−CD8− double-negative T (DNT) lymphocytes in different patients. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship of CD3 expression levels on DNT cells with disease severity. Methods. In this prospective study, we investigated the frequencies of circulating CD4−CD8− DNT cell subsets with CD3low or CD3high phenotype by flow cytometry in 76 pediatric patients with pneumonia, 55 patients with severe pneumonia (SP), and 29 healthy controls (Con). Results. The numbers of circulating DNT cells were similar in all groups; however, the frequency of CD3low DNT cell subsets was significantly increased in patients with pneumonia (p low DNT cell frequency showed a positive correlation with the clinical severity of pneumonia. On sub-group analysis, the frequency of CD3low DNT cells was only elevated in children with pneumonia aged low DNT cells were elevated in children with pneumonia aged <5 years, which indicates that it may be an important research target in pediatric infectious diseases.

T cells; PNEUMONIA; FLOW cytometry; COMMUNICABLE diseases; DISEASE progression

PeerJ, 2018, p1

2167-8359

Academic Journal

10.7717/peerj.6114