T lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin and complement levels are associated with the infection status of patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis

• Published in: Clinical and experimental medicine Vol. 23; no. 6; pp. 2877 - 2884
• Main Authors: Liu, Rui, Li, Mengdi, Zhang, Lei, Wang, Yan, Li, Wei, Liu, Shengyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies; CD3 antigen; CD4 antigen; CD8 antigen; Hematology; Immunoglobulin A; Immunoglobulin G; Immunoglobulins; Infections; Internal Medicine; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Oncology; Risk factors; Vasculitis; Infection; T lymphocyte subset; Immunoglobulin; Complement; ANCA-associated vasculitis
• ISSN: 1591-9528; 1591-8890; 1591-9528
• DOI: 10.1007/s10238-023-01021-4

Background Infection is the leading cause of death in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV). The aim of this study was to characterize the immunological features of infectious events occurring in patients with newly diagnosed AAV and to identify possible risk factors associated with infection. Methods The T lymphocyte subsets, immunoglobulin, and complement levels of the groups were compared between infected group and the noninfected group. Further, regression analysis was conducted to determine the association of each variable with the risk of infection. Results 280 patients with newly diagnosed AAV were enrolled. The average levels of CD3 + T cells (720.0 vs. 920.5, P  < 0.001), CD3 + CD4 + T cells (392.0 vs. 547.0, P  < 0.001), and CD3 + CD8 + T cells (248.0 vs. 335.0, P  = 0.001), serum IgG (11.66 g/L vs. 13.59 g/L, P  = 0.002), IgA (1.70 g/L vs. 2.44 g/L, P  < 0.001), C3 (1.03 g/L vs. 1.09 g/L, P  = 0.015), and C4 (0.24 g/L vs. 0.27 g/L, P  < 0.001) were significantly lower in the infected group than in the noninfected group. The levels of CD3 + CD4 + T cells (adjusted OR 0.997, P  = 0.018), IgG (adjusted OR 0.804, P  = 0.004), and C4 (adjusted OR 0.001, P  = 0.013) were found independently associated with infection. Conclusions Patients of infected AAV and those without infection differ in T lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin and complement levels. Furthermore, CD3 + CD4 + T cells counts and serum IgG and C4 levels were independent risk factors with infection in patients with newly diagnosed AAV.