title: Analysis of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in normal Saudi males by flow cytometry.
abstract: Lymphocyte immunophenotyping using flow cytometer has become an important tool for clinical patient management as well as for research and epidemiological studies. We examined the distribution of CD3 (all T cells), CD4 (T helper/inducer cells), CD8 (T suppressor/totoxic cells), CD16 (natural killer cells) and CD19 (B cells) in 150 healthy Saudi male blood donors using flows cytometry. The two-color labeled cells were analyzed by using the flow cytometer (FACScan, Becton-Dickinson, San Jose, California, USA) and the dual fluorescent subsets were discriminated by Simultest software. The distribution of T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells were similar to those reported in other populations as well as in normal Caucasian expatriate donors (all males) (n = 40) who were included in this study as controls. However, a significantly decreased CD4/CD8 ratio was observed in most Saudi blood donors. These lower ratios were due to decreased CD4 together with an increase in CD8 cells. Significant (P<0.00001) difference in CD4/CD8 ratio in our study may be due to environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation and stress (heat) as well as some genetic factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Medical Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Department of Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Al-Sedairy
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Al-Dalaan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haq
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Al-Hussein
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Sheth