Early activation of peripheral lymphocytes in human acute pancreatitis.
BACKGROUND
The CD69 antigen is an indicator of early lymphocyte activation.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the early activation of peripheral lymphocytes T, B, and NK in patients with acute pancreatitis in comparison with patients with acute abdomen of nonpancreatic origin.


METHODS
Thirty patients with acute pancreatitis were studied; 20 of them had the mild form of the disease and 10 had the severe form. Thirty patients with nonpancreatic acute abdomen were used as controls. All patients were enrolled within 48 hours of the onset of pain. In all patients, leukocytes and total lymphocyte and lymphocyte subset counts (CD4+, CD8+, CD56+, CD19+, CD4+CD69+, CD8+CD69+, CD56+CD69+, CD19+CD69+) were determined upon hospital admission.


RESULTS
The percentage of total lymphocytes was significantly lower in acute pancreatitis patients than in those with nonpancreatic acute abdomen (P = 0.014); patients with severe pancreatitis had a percentage of total lymphocytes significantly lower when compared with patients with mild pancreatitis (P < 0.001). The CD19+CD69+ count was significantly lower in patients with severe pancreatitis (24.6 +/- 14.6%) than in patients with mild pancreatitis (46.7 +/- 16.5%; = 0.006). The counts of the other lymphocyte subsets were not statistically different between patients with acute pancreatitis and those with nonpancreatic acute abdomen, as well as between patients with mild and severe acute pancreatitis.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with severe pancreatitis show impaired early activation of peripheral CD19+ cells.
Pezzilli
Raffaele
R
Department of Internal Medicine, St. Orsola-M. Malpighi Hospital, Bologna, Italy. pezzilli@orsola-malpighi.med.unibo.it
Maldini
Mario
M
Morselli-Labate
Antonio M
AM
Barakat
Bahjat
B
Romboli
Elisabetta
E
Beltrandi
Elisabetta
E
Migliori
Marina
M
Tomassetti
Paola
P
Corinaldesi
Roberto
R
D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010186:Pancreatic Function Tests; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D019283:Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000502:physiology*
D015703:Antigens, CD; D015415:Biomarkers