Russian State Medical University, Moscow, Russia; *M.F. Vladimirsky Moscow Regional Scientific-Research Clinical Institute, Moscow Region, Russia
Russ. J. Immunol. 1999, July 15, 4 (2), 165-170.
A study of the expression of activated markers in peripheral blood lymphocytes makes it possible to carry out continuous monitoring of the immune system of a patient by means of a non-invasive method. This is of great importance for patients with acute myocarditis with immunopathological processes. However, there are very few papers in medical literature which are dedicated to this problem. Wherein, the number of lymphocyte markers being studied is, as a rule, very small. In order to characterize changes in the surface phenotype of lymphocytes during myocarditis, a study was conducted of the dynamics of surface lymphocyte markers in 45 patients with acute myocarditis during 12 weeks from the beginning of the illness. It is shown that a characteristic feature of myocarditis is a reduction in the number of T helpers (CD4+) and B lymphocytes (CD72+). However, the most marked changes were detected during evaluation of the expression of lymphocyte activation markers. An increase in the expression of all of the activation markers studied was noted two weeks after the beginning of myocarditis exacerbation. However, the earliest and most significant immunological feature indicating that the course of myocarditis has exacerbated is an increase in the portion of CD25+ cells (the maximum increase is in the third week of the illness). The maximum of the increase of CD71+ lymphocytes is in the fourth week of the illness, and an increase in the number of cells carrying the antigen HLA DR reaches a peak during the fifth-sixth week of myocarditis. The obtained results show that specific dynamics of expression of lymphocyte activation markers are typical for the immune status of patients with myocarditis. Exacerbation of the process is characterized by a substantial increase in the number of lymphocytes expressing CD25 antigen, later an increase in the number of CD71+ lymphocytes is observed, and finally, an increase in the content of HLA DR+ lymphocytes is typical for the inflammatory process developing in the myocardium.