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Published on: June 26, 2018
Dynamic Characteristic of Surface Phenotype of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes in Myocarditis Patients
Gennady V. Poryadin1, Nataliya P. Sanina, Alexander I. Makarkov
1Russian State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.
Insights
Monitoring immune system changes in acute myocarditis patients is possible non-invasively. Key findings show reduced T helpers (CD4+) and B lymphocytes (CD72+), with specific activation marker dynamics indicating disease exacerbation.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cardiology
Background:
- Acute myocarditis involves complex immunopathological processes.
- Monitoring immune status in myocarditis patients is crucial but often limited by invasive methods.
- Few studies investigate lymphocyte activation markers in myocarditis dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the dynamic changes in lymphocyte surface markers during acute myocarditis.
- To identify specific immunological features indicative of myocarditis exacerbation.
- To establish a non-invasive monitoring method for immune system changes in myocarditis.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 45 acute myocarditis patients over 12 weeks.
- Analysis of peripheral blood lymphocyte surface markers, including T helpers (CD4+) and B lymphocytes (CD72+).
- Evaluation of lymphocyte activation markers: CD25, CD71, and HLA DR expression dynamics.
Main Results:
- A reduction in T helpers (CD4+) and B lymphocytes (CD72+) was observed.
- Increased expression of all studied activation markers was noted two weeks post-exacerbation.
- CD25+ cell increase peaked at week 3, CD71+ at week 4, and HLA DR+ at weeks 5-6, indicating distinct phases of immune response.
Conclusions:
- Specific dynamics of lymphocyte activation marker expression are characteristic of myocarditis immune status.
- Increased CD25+ cells are the earliest indicator of myocarditis exacerbation.
- Sequential increases in CD25+, CD71+, and HLA DR+ lymphocytes reflect the inflammatory process in the myocardium.
Abstract:
A study of the expression of activated markers in peripheral blood lymphocytes makes it possible to carry out continuous monitoring of the immune system of a patient by means of a non-invasive method. This is of great importance for patients with acute myocarditis with immunopathological processes. However, there are very few papers in medical literature which are dedicated to this problem. Wherein, the number of lymphocyte markers being studied is, as a rule, very small. In order to characterize changes in the surface phenotype of lymphocytes during myocarditis, a study was conducted of the dynamics of surface lymphocyte markers in 45 patients with acute myocarditis during 12 weeks from the beginning of the illness. It is shown that a characteristic feature of myocarditis is a reduction in the number of T helpers (CD4(+)) and B lymphocytes (CD72(+)). However, the most marked changes were detected during evaluation of the expression of lymphocyte activation markers. An increase in the expression of all of the activation markers studied was noted two weeks after the beginning of myocarditis exacerbation. However, the earliest and most significant immunological feature indicating that the course of myocarditis has exacerbated is an increase in the portion of CD25(+) cells (the maximum increase is in the third week of the illness). The maximum of the increase of CD71(+) lymphocytes is in the fourth week of the illness, and an increase in the number of cells carrying the antigen HLA DR reaches a peak during the fifth-sixth week of myocarditis. The obtained results show that specific dynamics of expression of lymphocyte activation markers are typical for the immune status of patients with myocarditis. Exacerbation of the process is characterized by a substantial increase in the number of lymphocytes expressing CD25 antigen, later an increase in the number of CD71(+) lymphocytes is observed, and finally, an increase in the content of HLA DR(+) lymphocytes is typical for the inflammatory process developing in the myocardium.
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