Alterations of lymphocyte subpopulations in healthy dogs with aging and in dogs with cancer

作者：Watabe Ai; Fukumoto Shinya; Komatsu Takahiro; Endo Yoshifumi; Kadosawa Tsuyoshi^*

来源：Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 2011, 142(3-4): 189-200.

DOI：10.1016/j.vetimm.2011.05.008

• Cancer
• Aging
• Canine
• Lymphocyte subsets
• Tumor stages
• Tumor types

Changes in an individual's immune status are considered major contributing factors towards the morbidity of cancer and mortality of aging. To evaluate age-related changes in the immune status of dogs, the immunophenotypes (CD3, CD4, CD8 and CD21) of peripheral blood lymphocytes were measured in 160 healthy dogs aged from 1 to 17 years, and in 365 dogs with various tumors and at various stages. In healthy dogs, the absolute numbers of white blood cells, lymphocytes, and CD3(+), CD4(+) and CD21(+) lymphocytes decreased significantly with age. The relative percentages of lymphocytes and CD4(+) cells decreased significantly, while CD8(+) cells increased significantly with age. The CD4:CD8 ratio showed a significant age-related decrease. In contrast, dogs with tumors possessed significantly lower absolute numbers and relative percentages of all lymphocyte phenotypes, while the CD4:CD8 ratio was significantly higher than in age-matched controls. The relative percentages of CD3(+) and CD8(+) lymphocytes were significantly lower in dogs with distant metastases compared with dogs without metastases, and the CD4:CD8 ratio increased with advanced stage. These observations illustrate the significant changes in immune status with age and the presence of marked immunological defects in a large-scale study of dogs with advanced tumors.

• 出版日期2011-8-15