Abstract
Little is known about the distribution of lymphocyte phenotypes in young children and the association specific phenotypes may have with respiratory illnesses. The objective of this study was to describe lymphocyte distributions in children at approximately 2 years of age and to test for associations with the frequency of respiratory illness during the first 2 years of life. We hypothesized that an increased frequency of illness would be associated with those phenotypes that reflect previous antigen exposure and/or immune activation. Seventy-three children were followed during their first 2 years of life with daily symptom diaries and twice-monthly telephone calls to ascertain the incidence of respiratory illness. After the children reached 2 years of age, the phenotypes of circulating blood lymphocytes were measured by flow cytometry. Associations between illness and phenotypes were adjusted for education level of parents; hours per week in day care; hours per week exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, mould, or water damage in bedroom; and parental history of allergy and asthma. The resulting median lymphocyte count was 4.0 × 109 per litre (standard deviation, 1.3) with a CD4/CD8 count of 2.28, consistent with published values. Illness rates were positively associated with the percentage of CD8+ CD38+ T cells (unadjusted p = .03, adjusted p = .014), CD8+ CD45RO+ T cells (unadjusted p = .06, adjusted p = .036), and CD4+ CD45RO+ T cells (unadjusted p = .01, adjusted p = .005). Our conclusions is that there is an association between the distribution of lymphocyte phenotypes and the incidence of respiratory illness early in life. Future research is recommended to determine the directionality of this association.
Highlights
136 Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology / Volume 1, Number 4, Winter 2005 available, but little is known about the relations between the distributions and rates of respiratory and other illnesses
We hypothesized that an increase in respiratory illnesses would be associated with an increase in those phenotypes that reflect previous antigen exposure and/or immune activation
Associations were tested between illness rates and phenotypes, unadjusted and adjusted by multivariate regression for variables that were associated with either the phenotype or illness rate.[7,8]. These variables were education level of parents; hours per week in day care; hours per week exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, mould, or water damage in the bedroom; and parental history of allergy and asthma
Summary
136 Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology / Volume 1, Number 4, Winter 2005 available, but little is known about the relations between the distributions and rates of respiratory and other illnesses. Any relation would support clinical relevance to these distributions, whether the frequency of illness is a result of alteration of the distribution or whether the illnesses result in an alteration of the distribution. To address these issues, we measured lymphocyte distributions in children of approximately 2 years of age and tested for associations with respiratory illnesses in the first 2 years of life. We hypothesized that an increase in respiratory illnesses would be associated with an increase in those phenotypes that reflect previous antigen exposure and/or immune activation
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