Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The immune cells of renal allograft recipients have always been the hot spot of research. However, there are few studies addressing the immune cell subsets in renal allograft recipients before operation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the proportional distribution of immune cell subsets in renal allograft recipients before operation.

METHODS: Fifteen de novo living-related renal transplant recipients were enrolled in this study with 15 healthy volunteers, aged 18-40 years, as healthy controls. Flow cytometry was employed to observe the proportion of the immune cell subsets by extracting peripheral venous blood of all participants.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In the renal allograft recipients, the proportions of CD4⁺CD25⁺ T cells, the proportion of CD4⁺CD25⁺/CD4⁺ T cells, CD19⁺ B cells, CD19⁺CD5⁺ B cells, CD19⁺CD27⁺ B cells, NKG2A/NK cells, and NKG2A/NKG2 cells were all lower than those in the healthy controls; however, the proportion of CD38⁺IgD^-/CD19⁺ B cells and NKG2D cells were higher than those in the healthy controls. The difference of the proportion of immune cell subsets aforementioned between the two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05), while no difference was observed in other subsets. Immune cell subsets in renal allograft recipients before operation could be used to assess the immune status of the recipients, and also could be seen as the basal control for postoperative immunological monitoring.

Key words: kidney transplantation, uremia, immunity, cellular, autoimmunity, flow cytometry, lymphocytes