Normative data for paediatric lymphocyte subsets: A pilot study from western India

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Pediatric Hematology

Background:

• Accurate diagnosis of immunodeficiencies requires age-matched reference values.
• India lacks established reference values for rare lymphocyte subsets, relying on international data.
• Limited data exists on normal variations of rare lymphocyte subsets in Indian children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish normative values for clinically important lymphocyte subsets in Indian children across different age groups.
• To address the lack of country-specific reference ranges for pediatric immunophenotyping.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study enrolled 148 children aged 0-16 years.
• Flow cytometry was used to determine lymphocyte subsets, including T, B, and natural killer cells.
• Data was analyzed to obtain median values and percentiles for 34 lymphocyte sub-populations.

Main Results:

• Age-related trends were observed: decreasing T and B naive cells, increasing memory cells.
• Activated T cell subsets increased up to one year and then declined.
• TCRgd+T cell percentage increased with age, while double negative T cells remained stable.

Conclusions:

• This study provides preliminary data for establishing pediatric reference ranges in India.
• Future large-scale, multi-centric studies are needed to validate these findings.
• Accurate reference ranges will aid clinicians in diagnosing various pediatric immune disorders.