Estudio de la diferenciación celular en linfocitos de pacientes con conjuntivitis alérgica y posibles implicaciones clínicas

SUMMARY Objective: To determine CD57+ expression on cells stimulated with Dermatophagoides pteronimuss (Der p) and to determine cell surface markers associated with central or peripheral memory on cells from conjunctivitis patients. Material and methods: Mononuclear cells were obtained from peripheral blood to determine CD57, CD27, CD45RA, CD45RO, CCR7 and Ki-67 expression on cells before and after antigenic stimulation with Der p. Data were analyzed by flow cytometry. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare statistical differences. Significant correlation was performed with Pearson test. Significant differences were considered when p<0.05. Results: We observed increased frequency of CD57 cells before (p=0.0001) and after (p=0.0003) Der p stimulation in conjunctivitis patients. CD45 isoforms index (CD45RA/CD45RO) was 3.3:1 before stimulation (p=0.02) and 3.1:1 (p=0.003) after stimulation. Positive correlations were observed when CD45RA was associated with CCR7 and CD27(r=1; p<0.0001), negative correlations were observed when CD45RO was associated with CCR7 and CD27 (r=-1; p<0.0001). Conclusions: Frequency of CD57 cells increase after antigenic specific stimulation. We observed two cells subsets in conjunctivitis patients: one of them was CD27+CCR7+CD45RA+ (central memory), the other one was CD27-CCR7CD45RO+ (peripheral memory). Functional studies are needed to elucidate the real role of these two subsets in patients with allergic conjunctivitis.