Effect of Adrenocorticotropic hormone on lymphocyte subsets in children with infantile spasms

Objective To explore the change of immune function and the effect of Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) on lymphocyte subsets in children with infantile spasm. Methods Twenty-five cases with newly diagnosed infantile spasm were gathered from November 2012 to September 2014, while another twenty-one healthy cases were chosen as normal control group.ACTH was administered for 4 weeks.Sera was sampled for analyses of the counts of CD3+ , CD4+ and CD8+ before and after 4 weeks of treatment, and the results were compared with those of the controls. Results Compared to the controls, the count of CD3+ T cell in patients demonstrated significant decreasement [patients: (64.2±7.5)%, controls: (70.2±8.4)%, t=2.53%, P 0.05]. The ratio of CD4+ /CD8+ T cell in patients demonstrated significant decrease [patients: 1.4±0.3, controls: 1.7±0.5, t=2.41, P 0.05]. The count of CD4+ T cell in patients had no statistically significant differences before and after treatment [before treatment: (38.7±4.8)%, after treatment: (39.2±4.6)%, t=0.41, P>0.05]. The count of CD8+ T cell in patients had no statistically significant differences before and after treatment (before treatment: (35.6±5.7)%, after treatment: (35.9±5.9)%, t=0.21, P>0.05). The ratio of CD4+ /CD8+ T cell in patients had no statistically significant differences before and after treatment (before treatment: 1.4±0.3, after treatment: 1.5±0.5, t=0.80, P>0.05). Conclusions Children with infantile spasm have immunological alterations, and ACTH has no effect on lymphocyte subsets.ACTH may not regulate the cellular immune function of children with infantile spasm. Key words: Spasms, infantile; Lymphocyte subsets; Adrenocorticotropic hormone