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Updated: May 16, 2025

Enumeration of Major Peripheral Blood Leukocyte Populations for Multicenter Clinical Trials Using a Whole Blood Phenotyping Assay
Published on: September 16, 2012
Peripheral lymphocyte phenotypic characteristics in healthy populations across the lifespan, from infancy to older
Ting Wang1, Rujia Chen1, Renren Ouyang1
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Introduction:
Lymphocyte compartment undergoes dramatic changes during childhood and adulthood. Changes in lymphocyte subtypes with age, from infancy to senescence, are rare.
Methods:
A total of 364 healthy individuals were included in this study. The population was divided into 2 groups: children and adults.
Results:
The proportion of naive CD4 T cells decreased gradually in the children group (P < .001), and this decrease was significantly negatively correlated with the adult group (P = .008). Conversely, the percentage of memory CD4 T cells increased, with central memory CD4 T cells showing an increase in both groups and effector memory CD4 T cells especially increasing in the children group (P < .001). A similar pattern of changes was observed in naive CD8 T cells, memory CD8 T cells, and CD45RA-positive regulatory T cells. There was a negative correlation between age and the proportion of naive B cells in the children group (P < .001) as well as plasma B cells in the adult group (P < .001). Sex had no influence on the fluctuation of lymphocyte subsets. Furthermore, positive correlations were observed between the expression of T cells and B cells during the developmental process.
Discussion:
The observed trends in the distribution of naive and memory lymphocyte subsets offer valuable insights that can help physicians understand patients' immune state and assess prognostic conditions.
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