Abnormalities in the T and NK lymphocyte phenotype in patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome

Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by spontaneous chromosomal instability with predisposition to immunodeficiency and cancer. In order to assess the cellular basis of the compromised immune response of NBS patients, the distribution of functionally distinct lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood was evaluated by means of double-colour flow cytometry. The study involved the 36 lymphopenic patients with a total lymphocyte count < or =1500 microl (group A) and seven patients (group B) having the absolute lymphocyte count comparable with the age-matched controls (> or =3000 microl). Regardless of the total lymphocyte count the NBS patients showed: (1) profound deficiency of CD4+ and CD3/CD8+ T cell subsets and up to fourfold increase in natural killer (NK) cells, almost lack of naive CD4+ T cells expressing CD45RA isoform, unchanged percentage of naive CD8+ cell subset (CD8/CD45RA+) but bearing the CD8 receptor of low density (CD8low); (2) normal expression of CD45RA isoform in the CD56+ lymphocyte subset, profound decrease in alpha beta but up to threefold increase in gamma delta-T cell-receptor (TCR)-positive T cells; (3) shift towards the memory phenotype in both CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subpopulations expressing CD45RO isoform (over-expression of CD45RO in terms of both the fluorescence intensity for CD45RO isoform and the number of positive cells); and (4) an increase in fluorescence intensity for the CD45RA isoform in NK cells population. These results indicate either a failure in T cell regeneration in the thymic pathway (deficiency of naive CD4+ cells) and/or more dominant contribution of non-thymic pathways in lymphocyte renewal reflected by an increase in the population of CD4+ and CD8+ memory cells, gamma delta-TCR positive T as well as NK cell subsets.