Clinical study on peripheral T lymphocyte subsets in children with hand-foot-and-mouth disease / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the dynamic changes of T lymphocyte subsets in children with hand-foot-and-mouth disease(HFMD)and to provide new evidence for the therapy and prognosis.Methods Peripheral venous blood samples of 346 HFMD cases in acute stage who were hospitalized in Beijing Ditan Hospital from May 1,2008 to August 31,2008 were collected and T lymphocyte subsets were assayed by flow cytometer.Meanwhile,T lymphocyte subsets of 67 HFMD cases in recovery phase were also detected.The pathogens were determined by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)using pharynx swab samples from 99 cases.Different samples were compared by independent-sample t test,paired t test or variance analysis.Results The average levels of T lymphocyte subsets of HFMD children in different agc groups were all lower than reference levels of healthy children in according age groups.In severe cases.T lymphocyte(TL)/lymphocyte (L)ratio in all age groups,helper T cell(Th)/L ratio in children older than 1 year,TL,Th and Th/suppressor T cell(Ts)ratio in children of 1-2 years old were all lower than those in common eases (P＜0.05).The Th/L ratio tended to increase with the disease progression.Ratios of TL/L and Th/L in common cases were increased in recovery phase(TL/L:56.3±8.6 vs 61.1±9.1,t=2.56,P＜0.05;Th/L:30.2±7.2 vs 34.9±7.9,t=2.90,P＜0.05)and all indices of severe cases except Ts/Lratio and Th/Ts ratio increased apparently in recovery phase(P＜0.01).TL[(1.738±0.976)×10~6/Lvs(2.696±1.946)×10~6/L,t=2.17,P＜0.05],Th/L ratio(25.9±7.0 vs 30.2±7.2,t=2.34,P＜0.05),Th[(0.864±0.550)×10~6/L vs(1.459±0.879)×10~6/L,t=2.90,P＜0.01]and L[(3.352±1.458)×10~6/L vs(4.664±2.435)×10~6/L,t=2.32,P＜0.05]of severe cases in acute phase were all lower than those of common cases(P＜0.05),while those were not significantly different in recovery phase between two groups(P＞0.05).The T lymphocyte subsets of enterovirus(EV)71 positive cases were lower than EVT1 negative cases,but there was no significant difference between these two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion T lymphocyte immune responses may be correlated with HFMD onset and progression.