T cell receptor excision circles as a tool for evaluating thymic function in young children
Braz. j. med. biol. res
;
52(7): e8292, 2019. tab, graf
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: biblio-1011589
ABSTRACT
The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ responsible for the maturation of T cells as well as the immunological central tolerance. It is in the antenatal period and infancy that it plays its major role. In clinical practice, T cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) are considered a direct and reliable measure of the thymic function. TRECs are a by-product of DNA formation in gene rearrangement of T cell receptors. They are stable and they do not duplicate during mitosis, representing the recent emigrant T cells from the thymus. Despite their importance, TRECs have been neglected by physicians and there is a lack of data regarding thymic function during infancy of healthy children. In order to evaluate thymic function in the first years of life, we propose measuring TRECs as a valuable tool. One hundred and three blood samples from children and adolescents between 3 months and 20 years of age were analyzed. The mean TRECs count was 136.77±96.7 copies of TRECs/μL of DNA. The individuals between 0 and 5 years of age had significantly higher TRECs values than those between 10 and 20 years of age. No significant difference was observed in TRECs values among age groups below 5 years of age. An inverse correlation between TRECs and age was found (r=0.3 P=0.003). These data highlight and validate the evidence of decreased thymus function with age, even during infancy. Awareness should be raised with this important albeit ignored organ.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Thymus Gland
/
Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Humans
/
Infant
Language:
English
Journal:
Braz. j. med. biol. res
Journal subject:
Biology
/
Medicine
Year:
2019
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira (IMIP)/BR
/
Universidade de São Paulo/BR
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