The clinical trajectory of peripheral blood immune cell subsets, T-cell activation, and cytokines in septic patients

Objective and design Changes in the immune status of patients with sepsis may have a major impact on their prognosis. Our research focused on changes in various immune cell subsets and T-cell activation during the progression of sepsis. Methods and subjects We collected data from 188 sepsis patients at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The main focus was on the patient’s immunocyte subset typing, T-cell activation/Treg cell analysis, and cytokine assay, which can indicate the immune status of the patient. Results The study found that the number of CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells, NK cells, and B cells decreased early in the disease, and the decrease in CD4 + and CD8 + T cells was more pronounced in the death group. T lymphocyte activation was inhibited, and the number of Treg cells increased as the disease progressed. T lymphocyte inhibition was more significant in the death group, and the increase in IL-10 was more significant in the death group. Finally, we used patients’ baseline conditions and immunological detection indicators for modeling and found that IL-10, CD4 + Treg cells, CD3 + HLA-DR + T cells, and CD3 + CD69 + T cells could predict patients’ prognosis well. Conclusion Our study found that immunosuppression occurs in patients early in sepsis. Early monitoring of the patient’s immune status may provide a timely warning of the disease.