Abstract:

Objective To investigate the changes of peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets in avian influenza A (H7N9) virus infection patients. Methods According to the prognosis,18 patients with avian influenza A (H7N9)virus infection (infection group) were classified into 13 cases of cure group and 5 cases of dead group. There were 20 healthy subjects as the control group. Specific primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the avian influenza A (H7N9)virus,and the T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry. Results Compared with the control group,the absolute numbers of CD3⁺T cell, CD8⁺T cell and CD4⁺T cell and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio of the infection group decreased significantly (P<0.05). In the cure group,the absolute numbers of CD3⁺T cell, CD8⁺T cell and CD4⁺T cell were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). In the cure group,the absolute numbers of CD3⁺T cell, CD8⁺T cell and CD4⁺T cell before the treatment were significantly lower than those after the treatment (P<0.05), and the absolute numbers of CD3⁺T cell and CD4⁺T cell and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05).In the dead group, the absolute numbers of CD3⁺T cell, CD8⁺T cell and CD4⁺T cell before and after the treatment were lower than those in the cure and control groups (P<0.05) , and there was no statistical significance for the all parameters before and after the treatment (P>0.05). Compared with the dead group,the absolute numbers of CD3⁺T cell, CD8⁺T cell and CD4⁺T cell in the cure group were higher (P<0.05). Conclusions There is the imbalance of T lymphocyte subsets in avian influenza A (H7N9)virus infection patients. In the dead group,the imbalance of T lymphocyte subsets is serious. The imbalance may be correlated with the pathogenesis of avian influenza A (H7N9)virus infection.

Key words: Avian influenza A (H7N9)virus, T lymphocyte subset, Oseltamivir