Objective: To study the changes of T lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin in peripheral blood of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and non-acute lymphocytic leukemia (N-ALL) before and after treatment and their value for monitoring of disease and evaluation of prognosis.
Methods: One hundred and six cases of leukemia were selected in our hospital, including 48 cases of ALL (ALL group) and 58 cases of N-ALL (N-ALL group); 54 peoples of normal physical examination were selected as the normal control group in the same period. The IgA, IgG and IgM levels of peripheral blood were detected, and the absolute value of T lymphocyte subsets was determined by cell slide method. According to whether the patients' status was improved or not by treatment, the 106 patients were divided into the unimproved group (55 cases including 25 ALL, 30 N-ALL) and improved group (51 cases including 23 ALL, 28 N-ALL).
Results: The levels of IgA, IgG and IgM in 106 cases of leukemia were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05), and the CD3+ level, CD3+CD4+/CD3+CD8+ ratio and the absolute value of CD3+CD4+T cells in the peripheral blood were significantly lower than those in the control group(all P<0.05); the absolute value of CD3+CD8+T cells showed no significant difference in comparison with the control group (P >0.05). After treatment, IgA,IgG and IgM levels in the improved group were significantly higher than those before therapy (all P<0.05), while their levels were not significantly different from that in the control group (all P>0.05); the CD3+ level, CD3+CD4+/CD3+CD8+ ratio and the absolute value of CD3+CD4+T cells in the peripheral blood were significantly higher than those before therapy (all P<0.05), while those were not significantly different from the control group (all P>0.05). Compared with levels before treatment, the levels of above mentioned indicators in the unimproved group after treatment were not significantly different (all P>0.05); and the CD3+ level, CD3+CD4+/CD3+CD8+ ratio and the absolute value of CD3+CD4+T cells were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05), and the absolute value of CD3+CD8+T cells were higher than that in the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: After the treatment, the T lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD3+CD4+T cells) and immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, IgM) levels in peripheral blood of patients with ALL and N-ALL have been improved significantly, and the detection of these indexes is helpful for disease monitoring and prognosis evaluation.