Analysis of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in multiple myeloma patients with different immunophenotypes

Objective To explore the clinical significance of peripheral blood lymphocytesubsets detection in multiple myeloma (MM) patients with different immunophenotypes. Methods A total of 40 MM patients in People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from January 2016 to June 2016 were selected as the research objects, and 20 healthy examinations were treated as the control group. Marrow and blood samples were collected to detect the expressions of antigens and peripheral blood lymphocytesubsets by using flow cytometry. Besides, immunophenotype and the differences of lymphocytesubsets between the two groups were analyzed. Results The expression rates of CD138, CD38, CD56, CD19, CD20, CD45 were 100% (40/40), 100% (40/40), 75% (30/40), 0, 20% (8/40), 0 in MM group and 100% (20/20), 100% (20/20), 0, 100% (20/20), 100% (20/20), 75% (15/20) in the control group. There were two kinds of immunophenotypes in MM group including CD138+ CD38+ CD56- CD19- (10 cases) and CD138+ CD38+ CD56+ CD19- (30 cases). The absolute value of CD3+ [(924±341)/ml vs. (1 474±270)/ml], CD4+ [(410±163)/ml vs. (871±214)/ml], CD4+/CD8+ [(1.0±0.3)/ml vs. (1.6±0.5)/ml], CD19+ [(72±26)/ml vs. (277±89)/ml] was lower in MM group compared with the control group(P 0.05). Conclusions Flow cytometry could help to type accurately the different immunophenotypes, distinguish the benign and malignant of plasmocytes and assist the diagnosis for the MM patients. Peripheral blood lymphocytesubsets analysis can be used to reflect the immunity of MM patients. Key words: Multiple myeloma; Immunophenotyping; Lymphocyte subsets; Flow cytometry