title: Correlation between T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood lymphocytes and 2-year all-cause mortality in an apparently healthy elderly Chinese cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few data have been acquired on the predictive value of age-related T-lymphocyte subsets among older individuals. The present study has determined the distribution of T-cell phenotypes and their correlation to 2-year mortality in a cohort of Chinese male seniors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 101 asymptomatic elderly individuals with laboratory homeostasis were enrolled at baseline. Three age subgroups were categorized as young (65 - 74 years old), middle (75 - 84 years old), and old (≥ 85 years) for age-related comparison. T-cell subsets in peripheral blood were measured by multi-colored flow cytometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, there was a mild negative correlation by age for total lymphocytes and CD3(+) T-cells. The frequency of CD28 and CD95 demonstrated a "curved" rather than linear tendency by age. At 2-year follow-up, little change of T-cell distribution was found among those who remained alive (as survivors) comparing the data at baseline to the 2-year time point. Immune risk phenotypes were distinctly demonstrated between survivors and non-survivors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since few studies have studied on the distribution of T-lymphocyte subsets in an elderly Chinese population, our results have not only provided reference values of T-subsets for aged Chinese men, but confirmed the immune risk phenotypes among elderly Chinese. The inappropriate age-dependent trajectory of CD28(-)/CD8(+) and CD95(-)/CD8(+) by age, which suggested 85 might be an inflexion point of age during T-cell ageing, warrants further exploration of the underlying mechanisms of T-cell ageing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, First Affiliated Clinical College of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jing-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fang-Fang
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D016922:Cellular Senescence; D002681:China; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000502:physiology*