Detection of levels of CD19+ and CD20+ of B-lymphocytes and expression of natural killer cells in the peripheral blood of epileptic children and their significances

Objective To detect the expressions of CD19 and CD20 of B-lymphocytes (CD19+B, CD20+B) and natural killer (NK) cells in the peripheral blood of epileptic children and explore their significances. Methods Four hundred and fifty-eight epileptic children, admitted to our hospital from January 2008 to December 2010, were chosen as patient group; another 52 healthy subjects were chosen as controls. The expressions of CD19+B and CD20+B and NK cells were detected by flow cytometry; their results were compared. Ninety-two epileptic children were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and the effect of IVIG therapy was studied. Results The CD19+B level ([22.35±6.54]％) and CD20+B level ([21.50±8.41]％) in the epileptic children were obviously higher than those in the healthy controls ([16.86±4.02)％,[16.13±4.19]％, P＜0.05); and the level of NK cells ([9.1 1±4.90]％) in the epileptic children was significantly decreased as compared with that in the healthy controls ([14.72±4.15]％, P＜0.05). The CD19+B level ([18.26±5.03]％) and CD20+B level ([16.74±5.12]％) 6months after MG treatment were decreased significantly as compared with those before treatment ([22.74±6.25]％,[21.61±8.03]％, P＜0.05]; while the level of NK cells ([14.65±4.58]％) 6 months after IVIG treatment was increased significantly as compared with that before treatment ([9.07±4.76]％,P＜0.05). Among the 92 patients treated with IVIG, 70 enjoyed good results and 22 had non-effective resutls; The changesofCD19+Blevel ([7.99±5.34]％) and CD20+B ([8.21±5.21]％) before and after treatment in effectively treated patients by IVIG were significantly different as compared with those in ineffectively treated patients by MG ([3.78±2.76]％,[3.66±2.48]％, P＜0.05); however, the changes of level of NK cells before and after treatment showed no significant difference between effectively treated patients and ineffectively treated patients ([5.28±4.55]％,[4.53％±4.43]％, P＞0.05). Conclusion Dysfunctions of B-lymphocytes and NK cells exist in epileptic children, and MG treatment shows good effect on immune dysfunction of them. The levels of CD19-B and CD20-B can be used as monitoring indicators in the IVIG treatment of epileptic children. Key words: Epilepsy;  Immunoglobulins;  Natural killer cell;  CD19;  CD20