International Immunology Advance Access originally published online on December 15, 2008
International Immunology 2009 21(2):137-144; doi:10.1093/intimm/dxn131
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Could the lower frequency of CD8+CD18+CD45RO+ lymphocytes be biomarkers of human VL?
1 Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Brazil
2 Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luis, Brazil
3 Universidade Federal do Piauí, Teresina, Brazil
4 Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
5 Instituto de Investigação em Imunologia, Salvador, Brazil
Correspondence to: M. Barral-Netto; E-mail: mbarral{at}bahia.fiocruz.br
Toward obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of factors governing activation and/or function during visceral leishmaniasis (VL), we have compared active disease (pre-treatment) versus post-chemotherapy immune response in VL patients by means of ex vivo staining with different cell markers. Our results show that during active disease, the frequency of T cells positive for CD25, CTLA-4 and CD45RO was significantly lower in VL patients compared with healthy controls, whereas cells staining positive for Annexin V and CD95 were significantly higher. In all cases, chemotherapy was able to restore these frequencies to normal levels. Interestingly, significant differences in the frequency of CD18 and in the frequency of CD45RO-positive cells were observed in the CD8+ T cell subset. These two frequencies were also significantly higher in bone marrow when compared with peripheral blood, suggesting a possible compartmentalization of certain CD8+ T cell populations during active disease. Given that CD8+ T cells have been shown to play an essential role in immunity to infection with Leishmania, our data indicate that the lower frequency of CD18+ and CD45RO+ lymphocytes in the bone marrow CD8+ T cell subset may be considered a biomarker of acute VL.
Keywords: CD18, flow cytometry, Leishmania
Transmitting editor: M. Nussenzweig
Received 3 April 2008, accepted 16 November 2008.