Department of Rheumatology, the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, 382 Wuyi Road, Taiyuan, 030001, China.
BMC Immunol. 2020 Aug 3;21(1):44. doi: 10.1186/s12865-020-00374-9.
Immunophenotyping of blood lymphocytes is an essential tool to evaluate the immune function of patients with immunodeficiency or autoimmunity. Predominately identified CD4T cell subsets, Th1, Th2, Th17, as well as regulatory T (Treg) cells, play crucial roles in several immunological and pathological conditions. Considering the variations in cell counts among populations and ethnicities, specific CD4T cell subset reference values need to be locally established to enable meaningful comparisons and accurate data interpretation in clinical and research settings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish distributions and reference ranges for blood CD4T cell subpopulations in age- and sex-balanced healthy adults of a Han Chinese population in Shanxi Province, North China.
Peripheral blood CD4T cell subsets were examined in 150 healthy volunteers (75 males, 75 females) aged 20-70 years with a four-color FACSCalibur flow cytometer.
Reference value percentages (absolute counts, cells/μl) were defined as 95% of the population for cell types as follows: CD4T, 23.78-51.07 (360-1127); Th1, 0.43-39.62 (2.64-276.21); Th2, 0.27-3.57 (1.80-27.14); Th17, 0.22-2.62 (1.10-19.54); and Treg, 2.17-7.94 (13.47-64.58). The ranges for the Th1:Th2 and Th17:Treg ratios were 0.59-52.37 and 0.04-0.76, respectively. Notably, a significant increase was observed in the values of Treg cells in older individuals, and the numbers of Treg cells in females also tended to decrease when compared to those in males. Therefore, we established the distribution and reference range of CD4T cell subsets based on age and sex, demonstrating the lowest values of Treg cells in younger females.
Collectively, our data provide population-, age-, and sex-specific distributions and reference ranges of circulating CD4T cell subpopulations, which can be adopted to guide clinical decisions and interpretation of immunophenotyping data in the Han Chinese population in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China. In addition, the low expression of peripheral Treg cells in younger females may be associated with the predisposition of females to autoimmune diseases.
血液淋巴细胞免疫表型分析是评估免疫缺陷或自身免疫患者免疫功能的重要工具。主要鉴定的 CD4T 细胞亚群，Th1、Th2、Th17 以及调节性 T（Treg）细胞，在多种免疫和病理条件下发挥着关键作用。鉴于不同人群和种族之间的细胞计数存在差异，需要建立特定的 CD4T 细胞亚群参考值，以便在临床和研究环境中进行有意义的比较和准确的数据解读。因此，本研究旨在建立中国山西省汉族健康成年人中年龄和性别均衡的人群外周血 CD4T 细胞亚群的分布和参考范围。
使用四色 FACSCalibur 流式细胞仪检测 150 名年龄在 20-70 岁的健康志愿者（75 名男性，75 名女性）外周血 CD4T 细胞亚群。
定义细胞类型的参考值百分比（绝对计数，细胞/μl）为 95%的人群范围如下：CD4T，23.78-51.07（360-1127）；Th1，0.43-39.62（2.64-276.21）；Th2，0.27-3.57（1.80-27.14）；Th17，0.22-2.62（1.10-19.54）；Treg，2.17-7.94（13.47-64.58）。Th1:Th2 和 Th17:Treg 比值范围分别为 0.59-52.37 和 0.04-0.76。值得注意的是，随着年龄的增长，Treg 细胞的数值显著增加，与男性相比，女性 Treg 细胞的数量也趋于减少。因此，我们根据年龄和性别建立了 CD4T 细胞亚群的分布和参考范围，结果表明年轻女性的 Treg 细胞值最低。
总之，我们的数据提供了中国山西省汉族人群循环 CD4T 细胞亚群的人群、年龄和性别特异性分布和参考范围，可用于指导临床决策和免疫表型分析数据的解读。此外，年轻女性外周 Treg 细胞表达水平较低可能与女性易患自身免疫性疾病有关。
