In order to examine the role of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets on the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), 30 affected children during the acute period of the disease and 30 healthy children within the same age range were selected to test their peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets using flow cytometry and compare these subsets. At the same time, the peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets of 20 children with complete remission from HLH were compared to those of 10 cases who succumbed to the disease. The proportion of CD3+ and CD8+ T cells were increased in children during the acute period. Additionally, the proportion of CD4+ T and CD3-CDl6+CD56+ natural killer (NK) cells and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ cells were decreased in the same group of children, with the differences being statistical significance (P<0.05). The proportion of CD19+ B cells showed no differences in the affected and healthy groups. HLH children during the remission period had a higher proportion of CD3+ and CD8+ T cells than that in the control group, but the ratio of CD4+ T and CD4+/CD8+ were lower than that in the control group, with the differences being statistically significant (P<0.05). The proportion of CD19+ B cells and CD3-CD16+CD56+ NK cells revealed no significant difference between the two groups. In addition, regarding the proportion of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ T, CD19+ B cells, CD3-CDl6+CD56+ NK cells and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+, and there were no significant differences. The results showed that HLH modifies the peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and causes cellular immunity disorders. Thus, monitoring these dynamic changes can be useful in the diagnosis of HLH and evaluate the response to therapy.
Keywords: children; hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis; lymphocyte subsets.