Variation of T regulatory cells and its relation with injury severity and sepsis in patients with se-vere multiple injury

Abstract

Objective To observe change of T regulatory cells (Tregs) and its relation with in-jury severity and sepsis following severe muhiple injury. Methods A total of 60 patients were em-ployed in the study and divided into severe group (30 patients) and critical group (30 patients) based on ISS scores and into sepsis group (22 patients) and non-sepsis group (38 patients) based on complication of sepsis. The proportion of Tregs in peripheral blood in different groups was detected by flow cytometry at days 1,3,5 and 8 after injury. Results The proportion of Tregs was significantly increased at day 5 postinjury, with statistical difference compared with that at day 3 postinjury (P < 0.01). The proportion of Tregs remained increasing at day 8 pestinjury (P < 0.05). At day 8 postinjury, the proportion of Tregs in critical group was significantly higher than that in severe group (P < 0.01). At the same time, the proportion of Tregs in sepsis group was significantly higher than that in non-sepsis group (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed a positive correlation of Tregs proportion with ISS score (rs =0.654, P < 0.01). Conclusions Tregs play an important role in suppression of T cell-mediated im-munity after severe injury. The variation of Tregs can help evaluate prognosis and predict the risk of com-plicating sepsis in patients with severe multiple injury. Key words: Multiple injury; Injury severity score; Sepsis; Regulatory T cells