Circulating lymphocyte subpopulations and activated T and B cells in patients with chagasic and non-chagasic myocardiopathy.
Trypanosoma cruzi causes a profound immune depression in the infected host, and a small proportion of chagasic patients will develop a chronic disease characterized by myocardiopathy. There is evidence suggesting that dilated non-chagasic cardiomyopathy may be mediated by an immunological mechanism. In an attempt to distinguish abnormal immunoregulatory cell patterns in both dilated myocardiopathies, total and activated T and B lymphocyte subpopulations were measured by flow cytometry and double-labeling in whole blood samples from patients with dilated myocardiopathy, 10 with positive serological tests for T. cruzi and 9 with different non-chagasic cardiomyopathies. Several significant differences were found between both groups of patients and 13 sex- and age-matched apparently healthy controls. Chagasic patients besides showing clear decrease in absolute numbers of CD3+/CD71+ and CD8+/CD25+ cell populations also had a significant increase in CD19+, CD10+, and CD19+/HLA-DR+ cell subsets, as well as high helper/ suppressor cell ratio. These findings suggest that concurrently with T cell diminution, which involved activated T lymphocytes displaying suppressor/cytotoxic immunophenotype, chronic chagasic patients with myocardiopathy showed elevated numbers of total and activated B lymphocytes. Patients with dilated non-chagasic myocardiopathy had significantly increased numbers of activated T cells (CD3+/CD25+, CD8+/CD25+, and CD8+/HLA-DR+) and total and activated B lymphocytes (CD10+, CD19+, CD19+HLA-DR+). These data support the notion that dilated myocardiopathies other than the chagasics may be associated with immunological abnormalities.
Piedras
J
J
Instituto Nacional de la Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Hematology-Oncology Department, Laboratory of Cell Biology, Mexico.
Gutierrez
S
S
Reyes-López
P A
PA
Reyes
K
K
López-Karpovitch
X
X
Monteón
V
V
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000145:classification; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000145:classification; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology*