Effects of changes of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells on prognosis in elderly patients with septic shock / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the changes of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cells in elderly patients with septic shock, and to evaluate the effects of the changes on 28-day mortality rate.Methods The 75 consecutive elderly patients with septic shock were recruited from December 2006to December 2008, and the general states and clinical characteristics of them were analyzed. The CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3 regulatory T cells and human leucocyte antigen DR (HLA-DR) were measured by flow cytometer at the 1st, 4th and 7-10th day of septic shock after being diagnosed. Results The patients were at an average age of (69.2±7.5) years, and the 28-day mortality rate was 53.3%.There were no significant differences in the percentage of CD4 + CD25+ FoxP3/CD4+T cells between the survivors and the non-survivors at the 1st day (1.76 % ±0.31% vs. 1.68 %±0.24 %, P＞0.05)and the 4th day (1.94%±0.32% vs. 1.82% ±0.28%, P＞0.05). However, compared with the survivors, non-survivors had a higher percentage of CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3/CD4+ T cells (2.65%±0.28% vs. 1.79%±0.27%, P＜0.01) at the 7-10th day of septic shock after being diagnosed.Furthermore, from the 4th day to the 7-10th day, the expressions of monocyte HLA-DR in the nonsurvivors were significantly lower than in the survivors (P＜0. 01), and they were inversely correlated with the percentage of CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3/CD4+ T cells at the 4th day (r=-0.39, P=0.023) and the 7-10th day (r= -0. 58, P＜0. 01) respectively. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the percentages of CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3/CD4+ T cells (OR = 3.47, 95% CI 1.33-10.0) and HLA-DR (OR= 0. 27, 95% CI 0.14-0.73) were independent predictors of 28-day mortality rate.Conclusions Persistent higher percentage of CD4+ CD25+ Treg cells in the elderly patients with septic shock indicates that the patients are under the states of immunosuppression and have a higher risk ofmortality in intensive care unit at admission.