The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Score and the Follow-Up Period Can Cause the Shift of Circulating Lymphocyte Subsets in Liver Transplant Recipients

• Published in: Frontiers in medicine 2022-01, Vol.8, p.779443-779443
• Main Authors: Pan, Fei, Cao, Shuang, Li, Xian-Liang, Jia, Ya-Nan, Wang, Ruo-Lin, He, Qiang, Zhu, Ji-Qiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: circulating lymphocyte subsets; dynamic changes; follow-up period; liver transplantation; Medicine; model for end-stage liver disease score
• ISSN: 2296-858X; 2296-858X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.779443

Little is known about the shift of lymphocytes under the condition of the model for end-stage liver disease score and the follow-up period. Then, we detected the peripheral blood from liver transplant recipients by flow cytometry and compared the results. The model for end-stage liver disease score affected the percentages of T-cell subsets and B cells during the short-term follow-up period, but failed to influence the lymphocyte subsets during the long-term follow-up period. In contrast, the follow-up period not only affected the absolute counts of T-cell subsets and natural killer (NK) cells in patients with the low model for end-stage liver disease scores, but also influenced the percentages and absolute counts of T-cell subsets in patients with the high model for end-stage liver disease scores. In the two-way ANOVA, we further revealed that the model for end-stage liver disease score was associated with the percentages of T cells and CD4 T cells and the absolute numbers of T-cell subsets and B cells, while the follow-up period was associated with the percentages of T-cell subsets and the absolute numbers of lymphocyte subsets. Therefore, patients with either the low model for end-stage liver disease scores or the long-term follow-up period are in a relatively activated immune condition.