Objectives: Long-term use of immunosuppressant drugs in kidney transplant recipients leads to immunosuppression. When active pulmonary tuberculosis infection occurs, lymphocyte proliferation and function are impaired, and the clinical symptoms of patients are not typical, which often leads to delay in diagnosis.
Materials and methods: We collected and analyzed the peripheral blood lymphocytes of hospitalized patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis and other types of pulmonary infection after kidney transplant within 2 years. The proportion and absolute values of lymphocytes were obtained by a flow cytometer.
Results: There were significant differences in the proportion of CD8+ subsets between active pulmonary tuberculosis and bacterial pneumonia in kidney transplant recipients. If the proportion of CD8+ subsets in peripheral blood is over 33.27%, then the active pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis sensitivity is higher than 88.9% and specificity is higher than 83.3%.
Conclusions: Analysis of peripheral lymphocyte subsets is helpful in the early diagnosis of kidney transplant recipients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. It should be added into routine examinations of kidney transplant recipients who have an ambiguous diagnosis between active pulmonary tuberculosis and bacterial pneumonia.