Lymphocyte Subsets in Peripheral Blood and Smoking Habits
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© Springer-Verlag New York Inc. 1997
Lymphocyte Subsets in Peripheral Blood and Smoking Habits T. Schaberg, C. Theilacker, O. T. Nitschke, and H. Lode Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Chest Clinic Heckeshorn, Affiliated Free University of Berlin, Berlin D-14109, Germany
Abstract. The investigation of peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) subpopulations is of interest in a wide variety of inflammatory diseases. Since the number of circulating lymphocytes has been shown to be affected by smoking habits, it seems useful to know how PBL subpopulations are influenced. We therefore determined percentages and absolute numbers of a wide range of PBL subpopulations in smokers (n 4 14) and nonsmokers (n 4 14). PBLs were obtained from healthy volunteers and analyzed by flow cytometry using antibodies for the detection of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD56, CD57, CD45RO, CD45RA, a/b and g/d T cell receptor epitopes. With the exception of CD3+ cells, no differences between smokers and nonsmokers were found regarding percentages of PBL subpopulations. Smokers were found to have higher absolute numbers of PBLs in the following subpopulations compared with nonsmokers: CD3+, CD4+, CD3+a/b+, CD45RO+/CD4+, and CD45RA+/CD4+. Cytotoxic lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and B cells did not differ in number between smokers and nonsmokers. There was likewise no difference in the number of the CD8+a/b+ and all cells bearing the g/d T cell receptor. Smoking increased the number of T cells and mainly CD4+ PBLs. The smoking habits of healthy control groups should therefore be taken into account when comparing lymphocyte subpopulations in different diseases. Key words: Flow cytometry—Cigarette smoking—T cells. Introduction The number of circulating white blood cells has been shown to be influenced by smoking habits [5, 12, 14]. Besides the number of granulocytes and monocytes, espeOffprint requests to: Priv.-Doz. Dr. Tom Schaberg, Pneumologie I, Lungenklinik Heckeshorn, Zum Heckeshorn 33, D-14109 Berlin, Germany
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cially the total number of circulating lymphocytes is known to be affected by smoking [3, 16]. Alterations in lymphocyte subsets have also been described in a variety of disorders [17]. Studies investigating the influence of cigarette smoking on absolute counts of different lymphocyte subsets have produced conflicting data. Although some reports suggest a decrease in T lymphocyte subsets in smokers [6, 11], others have found an increase in CD4 lymphocytes [1, 4, 10, 16] and memory (CD45RO+) CD4 lymphocytes [3]. On the other hand, the effects of smoking on absolute numbers of a wider variety of circulating lymphocyte subsets in healthy volunteers have not been studied. This is of importance since the investigation of lymphocyte subpopulations in different pulmonary disorders continues to be of great interest. In this study we investigated the numbers of CD3 (T cells), CD4 (T helper cells), CD8 (T suppressor cells), CD19 (B cells), CD56 (natural killer cells), CD3 a/b (a/b T cell receptor), CD8 a/b, CD3 g/
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