Induced sputum and peripheral blood cell profile in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
OBJECTIVE
To determine cell profiles, as well as to identify CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subgroups, in induced sputum (IS) and peripheral venous blood (PVB) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).


METHODS
Total cell counts and counts of individual cell types, including CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, were determined in the IS and PVB of 85 subjects (38 with COPD without exacerbation, 29 smokers without obstruction and 18 nonsmokers). Mann-Whitney and Spearman non-parametric tests were used in the statistical analysis, and values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.


RESULTS
Comparing the IS of subjects with COPD to that of nonsmokers, neutrophil, eosinophil and CD8+ T lymphocyte counts were higher (respectively p = 0.005, p < 0.05 and p < 0.05), whereas the percentage of macrophages was lower (p = 0.003). There were weak linear correlations (r(2) < 0.1) between each cell type in IS and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC ratio. Eosinophil and CD8+ T lymphocyte counts were also higher in PVB (p = 0.04 and p = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with stable COPD, CD8+ T lymphocyte counts were higher in PVB, whereas total leukocyte counts were similar to those of the other two groups analyzed, suggesting systemic inflammatory involvement. The CD8+ T lymphocyte count in blood can be a useful marker of systemic inflammation and can help identify smokers who already present a COPD inflammatory pattern.
Rufino
Rogerio
R
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UERJ - Rio de Janeiro State University School of Medical Sciences - Rio de Janeiro (RJ) Brazil.
Costa
Cláudia Henrique da
CH
Souza
Heitor Siffert Pereira de
HS
Madi
Kalil
K
Silva
José Roberto Lape e
JR
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008264:Macrophages / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D013183:Sputum / Q000166:cytology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014797:Vital Capacity
D015415:Biomarkers