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Haemochromatosis as a window into the study of the immunological system: A novel correlation between CD8 + lymphocytes and iron overload
Author(s) -
Porto Graça,
Reimαo Raquel,
Gonçalves Cristina,
Vicente Corália,
Justiça Benvindo,
Sousa Maria
Publication year - 1994
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 - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1994.tb00097.x
Subject(s) - phlebotomy , cd8 , peripheral blood , immunology , lymphocyte , transferrin , lymphocyte subsets , immune system , homeostasis , medicine , biology , endocrinology
Abstract: In the present study we report a serial investigation of the numbers of the peripheral blood cells — erythrocytes, polymorphonuclear neutrophils, total lymphocytes, T‐lymphocyte subpopulations (CD2, CD4, CD8), B lymphocytes and monocytes — in a group of 21 patients with haemochromatosis during the time of intensive phlebotomy treatment, i.e., from iron overload until the onset of iron deficiency. A remarkable individual stability of all blood cell populations studied was found in all patients. Patients differed in their relative proportions of CD4 + and CD8 + . Each individual's CD4/CD8 ratio, as well as the absolute numbers, remained unaffected with time, confirming the existence of a strict homeostatic regulation of the relative numbers of the two major peripheral T lymphocytes. A significant positive correlation between CD4/CD8 ratios and the amount of iron mobilised by phlebotomy was found during this study. A novel correlation between the relative proportions of CD4 + and CD8 + cells and iron overload is confirmed by the follow‐up of iron re‐entry in the serum transferrin pool in the treated patients.