Lymphocyte, monocyte, and natural killer cell reference ranges in postpartal women

Normative values for immune-cell subsets in postpartal women, who are recovering from the relative immunosuppression of pregnancy, have not been established. Considerable differences in normative values for subsets of immune cells have been demonstrated based on sociodemographic factors, such as age and race. In order to make accurate clinical decisions about postpartal women, comparisons with normal reference ranges are necessary. Therefore, flow cytometric data for 51 healthy women at 4 months postpartum are presented and changes over the first 4 postpartal months are documented. The levels of some lymphocyte cell subsets, such as CD4+/CD45RA+ and Ia on lymphocytes, remained stable over time. The levels of other lymphocyte cell subsets, such as CD4+/CD29+, increased over the first 4 postpartal months, while those of other cell subsets, such as CD8 and CD11b, increased between delivery and 2 months postpartum and then dropped again by the fourth postpartal month. The levels of two natural killer cell subsets (CD3-/CD16+ and CD3-/CD57+) rose from delivery until 1 month postpartum and then plateaued. Comparisons were made with reference ranges of nonpostpartal groups provided in the literature and in a study of healthy women being conducted in the same laboratory, and postpartal women were found to have lower values of CD8, CD3-/CD16+, CD4+/CD45RA+, CD20, and CD11b than those reported in the literature.