Changes in the Number of CD8+ T Lymphocytes in the Peripheral Blood of Patients with Various Autoimmune Diseases after Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantations and their Relations to the Survival Times

The changes in the number of CD8⁺ T lymphocytes were studied before (0 day) and then 30 days after the autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (AHSCT) in 14 therapy refractory patients with autoimmune diseases. The years of survival and the clinical states were also evaluated. The number of CD8⁺ T cells was determined by an hematologic automat and by flow cytometry. Longer than 5-year survival times were found in 6 cases, whereas there was no progression (improvement) in 2 cases, and 4 patients were lost. The increase in the number of CD8⁺ cytotoxic T cells was gradual in the first 2 months and reached the significantly highest values among all subtypes of lymphocytes. It was of a special interest that in all the 4 patients who died, the numbers of CD8⁺ T cells were less than 150/μl on the 30th day after AHSCT, whereas all the 10 patients with a higher cell number survived. These results suggest that the early monitoring of the number (not only the ratio) of regenerating CD8⁺ T cells in the peripheral blood can be a useful and quantitative laboratory measurement after AHSCT, and it has a significant relation also to the survival times of transplanted patients.