Temporal variability in immunological parameters: Peripheral blood mononuclear cell subsets, serum immunoglobulins, and soluble markers of immune system activation

Abstract

T-cell subsets and soluble factors of immune system activation are increasingly used as biologic markers of disease and predictors of disease progression. For example, changes in CD4 cells and CD4:CD8 ratio, sIL-2R, B2M, neopterin, and IgA have been used in predicting AIDS onset and progression. We examined the temporal variability of T-cell subsets, monocytes, natural killer cells, B cells, immunoglobulins, soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R), neopterin, and beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) among 135 adults tested at two time points approximately 3 months apart. The purpose of the study was two-fold: (1) to assess the stability of these measures at two points in time, and (2) to investigate which parameters tend to track together over time, i.e., show significant longitudinal correlation. Mean population values for these immunologic parameters remained remarkably stable over the 3-month period. However, individual subjects exhibited significant temporal variability for many parameters. Unlike observations in patients with AIDS, changes in immunoglobulins and other soluble factors were not significantly correlated with changes in cellular subsets over the same period. However, change in B2M was correlated with change in neopterin (r = .35, p < or = .0001), and change in IgA was correlated with changes in IgG and IgM (r = .44, r = .54, P < or = .001 for both). Characterizing this temporal variability in a healthy population provides important information for researchers applying these tests in clinical and epidemiological studies.