Immunophenotype of peripheral lymphocytes in HIV-negative patients with cryptococcal meningitis

XIE Jing; GE Ying; QIU Zhi-feng; ZHANG Kai-yu; LIU Zheng-yin; LI Tai-sheng

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-3827.2017.05.002

Abstract：Objective To find if immunophenotypic features of peripheral lymphocytes was associated with risk of cryptococcal meningitis (CM) in HIV-negative individuals.Methods A total of 31 CM patients treated at a tertiary hospital in Beijing,China were included.They were divided into immunocompromised comorbidity group (n =16) and apparently immunocompetent group (n =15).Twenty-one healthy donors were included as control group.Lymphocyte subsets including B,NK,CD4 +T,and CD8+ T cells,CD28 expression on T cells,and activation markers (HLA-DR and CD38) on CD8+ T cells were determined by flow cytometry and compared among the three groups.Results Compared with healthy donors,immunocompromised comorbidity group had dramatically decreased median B cell (223 vs.56/μL),NK cell (280 vs.86/μL),CD4+ T cell (695 vs.218/μL),and CD8+T cell (521 vs.164/μL) counts (P values for all four subsets＜0.001).Proportions of activated CD8+ T cells were significantly increased in immunocompromised patients than that in healthy control.Except for CD8+ T cell counts (527/μL),the median B cell (128/μL,P=0.02),NK cell (128/μL,P=0.002) and CD4+ T cell (567/μL,P =0.03)were moderately reduced in the apparently immunocompetent group than those in the healthy donors.The levels of HLA-DR and CD38 on CD8+ T cells in the apparently immunocompetent group were similar with the healthy donors.CD28 expression on CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells did not differ among the three groups.Conclusions The immunophenotype of CM patients with immunocompromised comorbidity was characterized by generalized decreased B,NK,CD4+ T,and CD8+ T cells.Mild-to-moderate reduce in B cell,NK cell and CD4+ T cell counts were observed in apparently immunocompetent patients.