Cellular immune function of the elder patients with severe pneumonia:a report of 60 cases

Objective:To investigate the immune function of the elder patients with severe pneumonia. Methods:Sixty elder patients with severe pneumonia(group A),thirty-four elder patients with common pneumonia(group B),nine adults with severe pneumonia(group C),and twenty-one adults with common pneumonia(group D) were enrolled. Indexes of T lymphocyte subset such as CD3+,CD4+,CD8+,CD4+/CD8+ and activity of natural killer cell(NK cell) were detected in all patient samples by flow cytometry. Results:The percentage of CD3+,CD4+,CD8+ ,and activity of NK cell in group A were lower than those in group B(P0.01 each). Furthermore,the percentage of CD3+,CD4+ ,and activity of NK cell in group C were lower than those in group D(P0.05 or 0.01). Meanwhile,the percentage of CD3+,CD8+ in group A were lower than that in group C(P0.05 ln each). However,there was no significant differences in every indexes between group C and group D(P0.05). Conclusion:The immune function of the patients with severe pneumonia is decreased,especially in elder patients. Lower immune function may be one of the reason causing severe pneumonia in elder patients.