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Early Changes in Frequency of Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte Subpopulations in Severe Traumatic Brain‐Injured Patients
Author(s) -
MrakovcicSutic I.,
Tokmadzic V. Sotosek,
Laskarin G.,
Mahmutefendic H.,
Lucin P.,
Zupan Z.,
Sustic A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3083.2010.02407.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cytotoxic t cell , immunology , cd8 , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , cd3 , lymphocyte , flow cytometry , peripheral , antigen , t lymphocyte , biology , in vitro , biochemistry
Infections are leading causes of increased morbidity and mortality of severe traumatic brain‐injured (STBI) patients. The mechanism underlying the susceptibility to the infections is still unexplained. The purpose of the study was to investigate changes in frequency of leucocytes subpopulations in peripheral blood of patients with STBI during the course of intensive care treatment. Twenty patients with STBI were included in the study. Healthy age‐ and sex‐ volunteers served as control. Peripheral blood samples were taken from these patients at day 1, 4 and 7, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated. The percentage of T, B lymphocyte, NK and NKT cells as well as monocytes was analysed by simultaneous detection of surface antigens using fluorochrome‐conjugated monoclonal antibodies. The two major subsets of T lymphocytes (CD3 + CD56 − CD4 + and CD3 + CD56 − CD8 + ) and NK cells (CD3 − CD56 +dim and CD3 − CD56 +bright ) were also analysed by flow cytometry. Extracranial infections were presented in 55% patients with STBI. At day 4, the percentage of T lymphocytes with cytotoxic phenotype significantly diminished and their numbers restored at day 7. The frequency of NKT cells showed the identical time‐dependent pattern, whereas the percentage of NK cells diminished on day 4 but did not restore after 7 days. The frequency of B lymphocytes did not change significantly during the time investigated, whereas the percentage of monocytes increased immediately after the injury and gradually diminished. The decrease in cells with cytotoxic phenotype might explain high incidence of susceptibility to infection of patients with STBI.