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Haemochromatosis as a window into the study of the immunological system: A novel correlation between CD8 + lymphocytes and iron overload

1994; Wiley; Volume: 52; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1600-0609.1994.tb00097.x

1600-0609

Graça Porto, Rubens Reimão, Cristina Gonçalves, Corália Vicente, B. Justiça, Maria de Sousa,

Iron Metabolism and Disorders

Abstract: In the present study we report a serial investigation of the numbers of the peripheral blood cells — erythrocytes, polymorphonuclear neutrophils, total lymphocytes, T‐lymphocyte subpopulations (CD2, CD4, CD8), B lymphocytes and monocytes — in a group of 21 patients with haemochromatosis during the time of intensive phlebotomy treatment, i.e., from iron overload until the onset of iron deficiency. A remarkable individual stability of all blood cell populations studied was found in all patients. Patients differed in their relative proportions of CD4 + and CD8 + . Each individual's CD4/CD8 ratio, as well as the absolute numbers, remained unaffected with time, confirming the existence of a strict homeostatic regulation of the relative numbers of the two major peripheral T lymphocytes. A significant positive correlation between CD4/CD8 ratios and the amount of iron mobilised by phlebotomy was found during this study. A novel correlation between the relative proportions of CD4 + and CD8 + cells and iron overload is confirmed by the follow‐up of iron re‐entry in the serum transferrin pool in the treated patients.