Testing and its significance of two kinds of dendritic cells in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia of B lineage

OBJECTIVE:To explore the distribution of CD11C+ myeloid dendritic cells (mDC) and CD123+ plasmacytoid DC(pDC)and significance in pediatric B lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL),and investigate the levels of CD11C+ DC and CD123+ DC in the peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM). METHODS:The percentages of mDC and pDC were measured by flow cytometry in PB and BM in childhood B-ALL (n=20) and normal controls (n=20,PB; n=16,BM). The children with B-ALL were measured two times (initial diagnosis and treated for 33 day). RESULTS:The percentages of CD11C+DC and CD123+DC in children with B-ALL at the time of initial diagnosis were significantly reduced than the normal controls (P0.001). After 33 days of treatment,the percentages of CD11C+DC and CD123+DC rose than those at diagnosis (P0.01). After 33 days of treatment,the percentage of CD123+DCs in PB with childhood B-ALL was reduced than the normal controls (t=2.036,P=0.049). To one case,compared with the percentage of DC in PB and BM,only the levels of PB123+DC from children with B-ALL were quite different (t=-2.539,P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS:The levels of DC significantly reduce for childhood B-ALL at diagnosis and they can improve after treatment especially in mDC. The levels of pDC in children with B-ALL are lower than those of the normal controls. For reflecting immune state,the percentages of mDC and pDC in PB and BM are better than only in PB or in BM.