Transplantation Center, The 3rd Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
Research Center of National Health Ministry on Transplantation Medicine, Changsha 410013, China.
J Immunol Res. 2022 Apr 9;2022:8720438. doi: 10.1155/2022/8720438. eCollection 2022.
Severe pneumonia accounts for the majority of morbidity and mortality in renal allograft recipients due to immunosuppressant maintenance. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), which are involved in tackling infections under immunosuppressive conditions, are rarely uncovered. We aimed to investigate the relationship between various Treg subpopulations and severe pneumonia after kidney transplantation (KTx). KTx recipients with pneumonia were divided into severe pneumonia and mild pneumonia groups. The frequencies and absolute numbers (Ab No.) of total Tregs (CD4CD25FoxP3), six subsets of Tregs (Helios/, CD39, and CD45RA/), and T cells, B cells, and NK cells were assessed from peripheral blood via flow cytometry using the or Mann-Whitney test and receiver operating curve analysis. We also determined the median fluorescence intensity (MFI) of human leukocyte antigen- (HLA-) DR on monocytes and CD64 on neutrophils. Logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors of disease progression, and Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to identify relationships between the measured immune indices and patients' clinical information. Our research indicated that Treg subpopulations were strongly associated with severe pneumonia progression post KTx. Based on the monitoring of Treg subpopulations, better-individualized prevention and therapy might be achieved for patients with severe pneumonia post KTx.
严重肺炎是导致接受免疫抑制剂维持治疗的肾移植受者发病率和死亡率高的主要原因。在免疫抑制条件下，调节性 T 细胞（Tregs）参与抗感染，但很少被发现。我们旨在研究肾移植（KTx）后各种 Treg 亚群与严重肺炎之间的关系。将肺炎的 KTx 受者分为严重肺炎和轻症肺炎组。通过流式细胞术，使用 或 Mann-Whitney 检验和受试者工作特征曲线分析，从外周血中评估总 Tregs（CD4CD25FoxP3）、六个 Treg 亚群（Helios/、CD39 和 CD45RA/）以及 T 细胞、B 细胞和 NK 细胞的频率和绝对数（Ab No.）。我们还测定了单核细胞 HLA-DR 的平均荧光强度（MFI）和中性粒细胞 CD64。采用逻辑回归识别疾病进展的危险因素，采用 Pearson 相关分析确定测量的免疫指标与患者临床信息之间的关系。我们的研究表明，Treg 亚群与 KTx 后严重肺炎的进展密切相关。通过监测 Treg 亚群，可以为 KTx 后发生严重肺炎的患者实现更好的个体化预防和治疗。
