The association between regulatory T cell subpopulations and severe pneumonia post renal transplantation
Quan Zhuang1, Haozheng Cai1, Min Yang1, Bo Peng1, Yulin Luo1, Ying Zhang1, Yingzi Ming1.
1Transplantation Center, The 3rd Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, People's Republic of China
Severe pneumonia accounts for the majority of morbidity and mortality in renal allograft recipients due to immunosuppressant maintenance. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), which are involved in tackling infections under immunosuppressive conditions, are rarely uncovered. We aimed to investigate the relationship between various Treg subpopulations and severe pneumonia after kidney transplantation (KTx). KTx recipients with pneumonia were divided into severe pneumonia (SP) and mild pneumonia (MP) groups. The frequencies and absolute numbers (Ab No.) of total Tregs (CD4+CD25+FoxP3+), six subsets of Tregs (Helios+/-, CD39+/-, and CD45RA+/-), and T cells, B cells, and NK cells were assessed from peripheral blood via flow cytometry using the t or Mann-Whitney test and receiver operating curve analysis. We also determined the median fluorescence intensity (MFI) of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR on monocytes and CD64 on neutrophils. Logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors of disease progression and Pearson’s correlation analysis was performed to identify relationships between the measured immune indices and patients’ clinical information. Our research indicated that Treg subpopulations were strongly associated with severe pneumonia progression post KTx. Based on the monitoring of Treg subpopulations, better individualized prevention and therapy might be achieved for patients with severe pneumonia post KTx.
This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81700658) and the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation-Outstanding Youth Foundation (2020JJ3058).
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