Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Administration of a polyvalent mechanical bacterial lysate to elderly patients with COPD: Effects on circulating T, B and NK cells

2012; Elsevier BV; Volume: 149; Issue: 1-2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.imlet.2012.11.009

1879-0542

Giulia Lanzilli, Elisabetta Traggiai, Fulvio Braido, Valentina Garelli, Chiara Folli, Alessandra Chiappori, A Riccio, Gyada Bazurro, Alessia Agazzi, Alessandra Magnani, Giorgio Walter Canonica, Giovanni Melioli,

Infant Health and Development

The modifications of the subsets of circulating lymphocytes were evaluated in a group of patients with COPD undergoing treatment with a polyvalent mechanical bacterial lysate (PMBL), a drug that is able to significantly modify the natural history of these patients. Using multicolor immune-florescence and flow cytometry, T, B subsets and NK cells were extensively studied both in the group of treated patients and in a disease and age matched controls. Despite the age, in treated patients, T and NK cells were significantly increased in numbers of circulating cells, but not in percentages, while B cells remained unmodified. CD3 + 4+ T cells were increased in treated patients, while CD3 + CD8 T cells were unmodified by the treatment. Activated T cells were increased but Treg, resulted reduced both in percentage than in absolute numbers. Transitional B cells resulted increased (in percentage and in absolute numbers) in their late maturation step (T3), while only early Naïve B cells were increased by the treatment, while other naïve subpopulations were unmodified. Memory B cells were reduced in percentage (but remained unmodified as absolute numbers), while the most immature form of memory B cells was significantly increased. Finally, both switch memory B cells and plasma cells resulted unmodified by the PMBL treatment. These results clearly indicated that the administration of the PMBL, even in elderly patients with COPD, was able to induce a significant immune-stimulation and these results, at cellular level, clearly support the evidence that the mechanism of action of PMBL is strictly related to a direct effect on immune-competent cells.