Comparison of T lymphocyte subsets in aplastic anemia and hypoplastic myelodysplastic syndromes

Abstract

AimsThis study aims to compare the proportion of peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets and related blood cell and bone marrow cytology indexes between patients with aplastic anemia (AA) and hypoplastic myelodysplastic syndrome (hypo-MDS), and investigate the clinical identification significance. Materials and methodsA total of 41 patients with AA and 46 patients with hypo-MDS were collected, and the proportions of peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets, CD3−CD16/CD56+NK cells, CD3+CD57+T-LGL cells and CD19+B lymphocytes were detected by flow cytometry. Key findingsThe CD4+/CD8+ ratio decreased in the AA and hypo-MDS groups, and the difference was statistically significant when compared with that in the control group (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between AA and hypo-MDS groups (P>0.05). The proportions of CD3−CD16/CD56+NK cells and CD3+CD57+T-LGL cells in the hypo-MDS group were distinctly higher than those in the AA group (P<0.05). However, the proportion of CD19+B lymphocyte was obviously lower than that in the AA group (P<0.05). Furthermore, the proportions of reticulocytes, bone marrow progenitor cells and immature red blood cells in the hypo-MDS group were significantly more than those in the AA group (P<0.05), and the proportion of mature lymphocytes in the hypo-MDS group was distinctly lower than that in the AA group (P<0.05). SignificanceChanges of T lymphocyte subsets and the proportions of large granular lymphocytes and B lymphocytes can be utilized as indexes in the differential diagnosis between AA and hypo-MDS.