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Published on: March 5, 2019
CD48 expression on leukocytes in infectious diseases: flow cytometric analysis of surface antigen
M Katsuura1, Y Shimizu, K Akiba
1Department of Pediatrics, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Japan. mkatsuur@med.id.yamagata-u.ac.jp
Insights
CD48 expression on leukocytes increases during infectious diseases, particularly viral infections. This finding suggests CD48 may serve as a marker for disease activity.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- The precise function of CD48, a pan leukocyte cell surface antigen, remains incompletely understood.
- CD48 enhances CD40-mediated activation signals in B lymphocytes.
- As an activation antigen on monocytes, neutrophils, and lymphocytes, CD48 expression changes are anticipated during infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the expression levels of CD48 on leukocytes in patients with various infectious diseases.
- To determine if CD48 expression correlates with disease activity and type of infection.
Main Methods:
- Leukocytes from 97 patients with infectious diseases and 27 healthy controls were analyzed.
- Flow cytometry was used to quantify CD48 expression following staining with an anti-CD48 antibody.
Main Results:
- Elevated CD48 expression was observed on monocytes and neutrophils in patients with varicella, measles, rubella, infectious mononucleosis, streptococcal tonsillitis, sepsis, and appendicitis.
- Increased CD48 expression was also noted on lymphocytes in most viral infections but not typically in sepsis or appendicitis.
- Normalized CD48 expression on monocytes was confirmed during the convalescent phase of infection.
Conclusions:
- CD48 expression on leukocytes serves as an indicator of infectious disease activity.
- The data strongly suggest CD48 is a valuable marker, especially for monitoring viral infections.
Background:
The function of CD48, one of the pan leukocyte cell surface antigens, is not yet well understood. CD48 was recently shown to enhance the CD40-mediated activating signal to B lymphocytes. As CD48 is one of the activation antigens of monocytes, neutrophils and lymphocytes, a change of its expression on the cells could be expected in infectious diseases.
Methods And Results:
Leukocytes from 27 healthy controls and 97 patients with various infectious diseases were stained with anti CD48 antibody and analyzed by flow cytometry. On monocytes and neutrophils, the CD48 expression was increased in all of the patients with varicella, measles, rubella, infectious mononucleosis, streptococcus tonsillitis, sepsis and appendicitis. On lymphocytes, a significant increase of CD48 was also detected in the patients with the same diseases, except those with sepsis or appendicitis. The normalization of increased CD48 expression was confirmed on monocytes at the convalescent phase.
Conclusion:
These data suggest that CD48 expression on leukocytes reflects the disease activity of infectious diseases, especially of viral infections.
