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Assessment of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in idiopathic myelofibrosis
Author(s) -
Cervantes Francisco,
HernándezBoluda JuanCarlos,
Villamor Neus,
Serra Angélica,
Montserrat Emilio
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
european journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0902-4441
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0609.2000.90262.x
Subject(s) - cd5 , lymphocytopenia , cd8 , lymphocyte , medicine , myelofibrosis , cd3 , cd19 , immunology , bone marrow , peripheral blood lymphocyte , gastroenterology , pathology , immune system , antibody
The objective of this study was to contribute to a better characterization of the immunological profile of idiopathic myelofibrosis (IM) at presentation by analysing the blood lymphocyte subsets and their possible correlations with other disease features. Absolute blood lymphocytes and lymphocyte subsets were assessed in 31 IM patients, compared with those from 34 healthy individuals, and correlated with the patients' main clinical, hematological and bone marrow histologic features. The mean lymphocyte count of the IM patients was 1.1 (SD 0.6)×10 9 /L, versus 1.6 (SD 0.49)×10 9 /L in controls ( p =0.0006), with 24 of the 31 patients (77.4%) showing lymphocytopenia (<1.5×10 9 /L). IM patients had significantly lower counts of CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD3−/CD56+ cells, and significantly higher CD3+/CD56+ lymphocyte counts. Although no significant differences were found between patients and controls with regard to CD19+/CD5+ cell counts, increased CD5+ B‐cell lymphocytes were observed in three IM patients. In one of the latter patients, Ig gene rearrangement analysis of the heavy chain gene demonstrated such a subpopulation to be clonal, but the patient did not develop features of chronic lymphoid leukemia during a 5‐yr follow‐up. No correlation was found between the patients' blood lymphocyte counts and other disease features. We conclude that most IM patients have absolute lymphopenia, decreased T cells and increased cytotoxic T cells at diagnosis, and 10% of them show an increased CD5+ B‐cell subpopulation.