[Evaluation value of the levels of peripheral blood CD20 + CD24 hi CD38 hi regulatory B cells on the prognosis of elderly patients with sepsis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the predicting value of peripheral blood CD20+ CD24hi CD38hi regulatory B cells (Bregs) on the prognosis of elderly patients with sepsis.

METHODS: A prospective study was conducted. Septic patients aged > 65 years old, compliance with diagnostic criteria for Sepsis-3, admitted to emergency and emergency intensive care unit (ICU) of Shanghai East Hospital of Tongji University from April 2016 to February 2017 were enrolled. Procalcitonin (PCT), C-reaction protein (CRP) and lactate (Lac) were routinely measured. According to the worst clinical index value within 24 hours, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score were recorded. The concentrations of peripheral blood CD20+ CD24hi CD38hi Bregs were measured by flow cytometry at 1, 3 and 7 days after diagnosed in elderly patients. All patients with sepsis were followed up for 28 days and then divided into death group and survival group according to 28-day outcome. The difference of clinic data and Bregs were compared between the two groups. The significant different factors of elderly sepsis patients were analyzed by binary logistic regression analysis. The correlation between Bregs level and other indicators was analyzed by Spearman correlation. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the prognosis value of Bregs in elderly patients with sepsis.

RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients were enrolled in the study, with 38 male and 20 female; age of (79.91±7.97) years; 32 in sepsis group, 26 in septic shock group; 35 deaths, 28-day mortality rate was 60.3%. APACHE II score and SOFA score in death group exhibited much higher than that in survival group (APACHE II: 18.14±4.52 vs. 14.91±3.56, SOFA: 8.80±4.56 vs. 6.35±3.00, both P < 0.05), the Bregs was significantly decreased at 1, 3 and 7 days in death group [cells/μL: 0.70 (0.20, 1.40) vs. 1.50 (0.70, 2.20), 0.54 (0.20, 1.00) vs. 1.42 (1.10, 2.12), 0.25 (0.10, 0.50) vs. 0.80 (0.50, 1.00), all P < 0.05]. Correlation analysis showed that the concentrations of peripheral blood Bregs at 1 day in elderly patients with sepsis was negatively correlated with APACHE II score (r = -0.351, P = 0.007), and it was not correlated with PCT, CRP, Lac or SOFA score. It was shown by binary logistic regression that Bregs [odds ratio (OR) = 1.865, P = 0.028] and APACHE II score (OR = 0.853, P = 0.026) were independent risk factors for elderly sepsis outcome. It was shown by ROC curve analysis that the prognostic value of the levels of Bregs at 1, 3, 7 days and APACHE II score were higher in the elderly patients with sepsis, and the area under ROC curve (AUC) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were 0.842 (0.647-0.954), 0.770 (0.564-0.911), 0.888 (0.703-0.977), 0.855 (0.661-0.961), respectively, all P < 0.01. The 7-day Bregs was most powerful to predict outcome, when the cut-off value was 0.50 cells/μL, the sensitivity was 72.73% and specificity was 86.67%.

CONCLUSIONS: The level of peripheral blood CD20+ CD24hi CD38hi Bregs could predict the clinical outcome of elderly patients with sepsis.