tailieunhanh - Pulmonary tuberculosis associated with increased number and percentage of natural killer and B cells in the peripheral blood

Laboratory data for peripheral blood lymphocyte subset analysis from ten patients with the diagnosis of PTB were examined retrospectively in the Immunology Unit at King Khalid University Hospital Riyadh. There were 4 female and 6 male patients with the mean age of 27 ± 6 years. Diagnosis of PTB was confirmed on clinical, radiological and microbiological evidence. Blood samples were collected prior to initiation of anti-tuberculosis therapy. None of the patients included in the study had any evidence of suffering from diabetes, HIV infection or autoimmune diseases. The study was limited by lack of access to the patient records therefore it was not possible to correlate the laboratory data with. | African Journal of Microbiology Research Vol. 5 15 pp. 2048-2052 4 August 2011 Available online http ajmr DOI ISSN 1996-0808 2011 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Pulmonary tuberculosis associated with increased number and percentage of natural killer and B cells in the peripheral blood Adel Almogren Department of Pathology College of Medicine King Saud University P. O. Box 2925 Riyadh 11461 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. E-mail almogren@. Tel 00-966-1-4671843. Fax 00-966-1-4671925. Accepted 30 July 2011 Host defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis MTB is essentially a cell mediated immune response. The aim of this study is to assess immune abnormalities in the peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Flowcytometry data for peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in ten patients mean age of 27 6 years with pulmonary tuberculosis were compared with similar data from 25 normal healthy individuals mean age 24 6 years retrospectively in Immunology Unit at King Khalid University Hospital Riyadh. The absolute numbers vs p and 28 vs p of the natural killer cells and B lymphocytes vs 69 p and vs 11 p respectively were significantly higher in patients with PTB than the normal healthy individuals. A marked reduction in the absolute numbers vs p and the percentage vs p of CD4 cells in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis was also noted. Elevated natural killer and B cells with CD4 lymphopenia in pulmonary tuberculosis prompt further investigations to gain a better understanding of host defense against M. tuberculosis. Key words Mycobacterium tuberculosis natural killer cells lymphocyte subsets pulmonary tuberculosis. INTRODUCTION Mycobacterium tuberculosis MTB infection remains a major health problem in many countries of the world.