Changes in frequencies of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and their clinical significance in patients with autoimmune liver diseases

Objective To investigate the changes in frequencies of peripheral blood lymphocyte ( PBL) subsets and their clinical significance in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis ( PBC) , autoimmune hepatitis ( AIH) , and AIH- PBC overlap syndrome. Methods Forty- one patients with AIH- PBC overlap syndrome, 37 patients with AIH, 36 patients with PBC, and 50 healthy persons were included in the retrospective study. The frequencies of PBL subsets were determined by flow cytometry. The changes in frequencies of PBL subsets and their clinical significance were investigated. Results Compared with the healthy control group, the AIH- PBC group, PBC group, and AIH group had a significantly increased frequency of CD3+CD4+T cells and a significantly decreased frequency of CD3-CD16+CD56+NK cells; the PBC group and AIH- PBC group had significantly increased CD4+/ CD8+ratio and frequency of CD3-CD19+B cells and a significantly decreased frequency of CD3+CD8+T cells. During different stages of diseases, in the AIH- PBC group and PBC group, the frequencies of CD3+T cells and CD3+CD8+T cells were significantly lower in patients with liver cirrhosis than in those without liver cirrhosis. Conclusion The changes in frequencies of PBL subsets are related to the progression of autoimmune liver diseases, providing important immunological parameters for clinical evaluation of the immune status in patients with autoimmune liver diseases.