Limited Impact of the Thymus on Immunological Recovery During and After Chemotherapy in Patients with Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma

作者：Vedel S J; Tholstrup D; Kolte L; Gaardbo J; Ryder L P; Er**oll A; Albrecht Beste E; Jurlander J; Nielsen J O; Nielsen S D^*

来源：Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, 2009, 69(6): 547-554.

DOI：10.1111/j.1365-3083.2009.02252.x

To investigate the impact of thymus on immunological recovery after dose-dense chemotherapy a prospective study of 17 patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was conducted. Patients were monitored before, during and until 3 months after chemotherapy. The thymus was visualized using computer tomographic scans. Patients were divided into two groups according to thymic size, one group comprising of patients without detectable thymus and one group of patients with detectable thymus. Naive CD4 and CD8 counts were measured by flow cytometry, and to measure thymic output determination of CD4+ cells containing T-cell receptor excision circles (TREC) was done. During chemotherapy, the naive CD4 count decreased significantly as did the CD4-TREC%. Significant difference in recovery of naive CD4 counts between patients with detectable and undetectable thymic tissue during treatment with chemotherapy was not found. CD4-TREC% was associated with lower age. It was not possible to demonstrate an association between thymic size and recovery of the naive CD4+ cells. The study terminated 3 months after the last cycle of chemotherapy, and at that time point the naive CD4 counts and the CD4-TREC% had not returned to pretreatment levels. However, patients with detectable thymic tissue had higher naive CD4 counts after the first cycles of chemotherapy, suggesting that these patients may be less susceptible to infectious complications related to chemotherapy.

• 出版日期2009-6