Study on the Changes of Immune Cells in the Evolution of Myelodysplastic Syndromes

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the differences of peripheral blood immune cells in healthy people, and patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients or acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and to investigate their correlations with International Prostate Symptom Score(IPSS), blasts and other factors in MDS patients. Methods: 55 patients with MDS(MDS group), 67 patients with AML(AML group) and 25 heathy people(healthy group) were selected as research objects from Dongzhimen Hospital Affiliated with Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from January, 2012 to April, 2022 for this retrospective analysis. By comparing peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets count and peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets percentage, we studied the expression of T lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+, CD3+CD4+CD25+FoxP3+), B cells (CD19+) and NK cells (CD3-CD16+CD56+). The correlations between the different indexes and IPSS and blasts were analyzed. Results: (1) Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets count: There were differences among the three groups. Through pairwise comparison, MDS group had lower peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets count(P＜0.025), probably owing to the low peripheral blood lymphocyte count. (2)Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets percentage: The percentages of Treg cells, B cells and T cells varied among the three groups. Compared with the healthy group, the percentages of T cells ( P＜0.025) and Treg cells ( P＞0.025) in MDS group were higher, and the percentage of B cells ( P＜0.025) was lower. Compared with MDS group, the percentage of Treg cells ( P＜0.025) in AML group was higher and the proportion of B cells was lower ( P＜0.025). (3)Correlations with IPSS and blasts: The percentage of Treg cells was positively correlated with IPSS and blasts. Conclusion: Treg cells showed an increasing trend in turn by healthy people group, MDS group and AML group. The high expression of Treg cells may have great significance in prognosis and progression of MDS.

Key words: Acute myeloid leukemia; Blasts; Immune cells; Myelodysplastic syndromes.