title: [An analysis of immunophenotyping of peripheral lymphocytes in adult patients with infectious mononucleosis and chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the immunophenotypic features of peripheral lymphocytes in adult patients with Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-associated infectious mononucleosis(IM) and chronic active EBV infection (CAEBV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen IM patients, 12 CAEBV patients and 18 healthy donors were included. Lymphocyte subsets including CD3(-)CD19(+) B cells, CD3(-)CD16/56(+) NK cells, CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in peripheral blood were measured by flow cytometry. The expression of activation markers (HLA-DR and CD38) on CD8(+) T cells and CD28 expression on T cells were also determined. Kruskal-Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare variables among groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IM patients had dramatically increased CD8(+) T cell counts than healthy donors (5.22×10(9)/L vs 0.54×10(9)/L, P<0.001). B cell counts moderately reduced in patients with IM than in healthy donors. No difference was found in absolute CD4(+) T cell and NK cell counts between IM and healthy donors. The levels of HLA-DR and CD38 on CD8(+) T cells significantly increased in IM patients compared with those in healthy controls. The intensity of CD28 on CD8(+) T cells significantly decreased, which was not seen on CD4(+) T cells. The median cell counts of B, NK, CD4(+) T and CD8(+) T subsets in CAEBV patients were 0.02×10(9)/L, 0.06×10(9)/L, 0.26×10(9)/L and 0.21×10(9)/L respectively, which were significantly lower than those in healthy donors (0.22×10(9)/L, 0.38×10(9)/L, 0.78×10(9)/L, 0.54×10(9)/L)and IM patients (0.12×10(9)/L, 0.40×10(9)/L, 0.91×10(9)/L, 5.22×10(9)/L). The positive rates of HLA-DR and CD38 on CD8(+) T cells in CAEBV patients were higher than those in healthy controls, but lower than those in IM patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The immunophenotypic pattern in adult patients with IM is characterized by a dramatic increase of extensively activated CD8(+) T cells, a moderate reduction of CD19(+) B cells and no significant change of CD4(+) T cells and CD16/56(+) NK cells. CAEBV is featured by an immunosuppression status as demonstrated by significantly decreased B, NK, CD4(+) T and CD8(+) T subsets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Z F
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology