Analysis of immune cells in peripheral blood of patients with nontuberculous mycobacterium infection and its clinical significance

Objective To analyze the change of expression rate of immune cells in peripheral blood of patients with nontuberculosis mycobacterium(NTM) infection and its clinical significance. Methods From April 2016 to April 2017, 69 patients with NTM infection in the Fifth People's Hospital of Suzhou were selected as the case group, and 66 healthy people in the same period were selected as the control group. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression rate of immune cells in peripheral blood of healthy control group and NTM patients(NTM group). NTM group were further divided into unilateral infection group(n=29) and bilateral infection group(n=40) according to the difference of infection site. Results Compared with the control group, there was no significant change in the total expression rate of T lymphocytes in patients with NTM, while the expression rates of B lymphocytes and monocytes in NTM group were significantly up-regulated [(10.50±0.56)% vs (12.26±0.57)%, (5.61±0.24)% vs (6.72±0.32)%, t values were 2.209 and 2.774 respectively, both P values 0.05). While the expression rate of CD4+ CD25HT cells was significantly up-regulated[(8.05±0.35)% vs (3.69±0.19)%, t=11.000, P 0.05). The results of T subgroup analysis also showed that the expression rates of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells and CD4+ CD25HT cells were not significantly different between the unilateral infection group and the bilateral infection group (P>0.05). While CD8+ CD28+ T cells were significantly decreased[(21.99±1.02)% vs (26.21±1.52)% , t=2.397, P<0.05], and CD8+ CD28-T cells were significantly up-regulated[(24.48±1.90)% vs (18.19±1.60)%, t=2.404, P<0.05] in the bilateral infection group compared with the unilateral infection group. Conclusion The expression rate of some immune cells in peripheral blood of patients with NTM changed significantly, which may have an important impact on the occurrence and development of the disease. Key words: Nontuberculosis mycobacterium; B lymphocytes; T lymphocyte subsets