Diminished HLA-DR expression on monocyte and dendritic cell subsets indicating impairment of cellular immunity in pre-term neonates: a prospective observational analysis

Joerg C. Schefold, Linn Porz, Barbara Uebe, Holger Poehlmann, Stephan von Haehling, Andreas Jung, Nadine Unterwalder, Christian Meisel
2015 Journal of Perinatal Medicine  
AbstractThe risk of neonates for severe infection/sepsis is reciprocally proportional to gestational age and birth weight. As monocytes and dendritic cells (DC) are recognised key antigen-presenting immune cells, we aimed to elucidate whether neonatal age is associated with reduced expression of human-leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) antigens on subsets of monocytes and DCs.Forty-three consecutive neonates (20 male, mean gestational age 236.0±26.8 days; mean 1-min Apgar score 7.5±2.0) were
more » ... in a monocentric prospective observational analysis. Patients were grouped according to gestational age (n=15 full-term, n=28 pre-term defined as <33 weeks). Ten healthy adult volunteers were assessed also. Flow-cytometric assessment of HLA-DR expression was performed in subsets of peripheral blood myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs (MDC and PDC) and monocytes (CD14At birth, leukocyte counts were increased in full-term neonates. Monocyte counts were significantly increased in neonates when compared with adults (all P<0.05). A significant numerical increase of CD14We observed a markedly diminished HLA-DR expression on monocyte and DC subsets in pre-term and full-term neonates, which may contribute to impaired antimicrobial defence mechanisms in the early days of life.
doi:10.1515/jpm-2014-0226 pmid:25418981 fatcat:hthy3x2nrbhbljhpijqfkewuri