Objective: To explore the variations of subpopulation of peripheral lymphocytes in Parkinson's disease (PD) and locate its potential biomarkers for clinical evaluations.
Methods: The methods of direct immunostaining and flow cytometry were employed to test the percentages of CD3(+), CD3(+)CD4(+), CD3(+)CD8(+), CD19(+) lymphocytes in blood samples of 77 PD patients and 82 healthy controls. And the percentages of CD3(+)CD4(+) and CD3(+)CD8(+) lymphocytes and the parameters of patients and health controls were analyzed.
Results: Compared to controls, the percentages of CD3(+), CD3(+)CD4(+) lymphocytes significantly decreased in PD patients ((62 ± 12)% vs (66 ± 9) %, P = 0.04; (35 ± 9) % vs (38 ± 7) %, P = 0.02), especially in males ((66 ± 9)% vs (61 ± 13) %, P = 0.02; (38 ± 10) % vs (33 ± 9) %, P = 0.01)) . Furthermore, the percentage of CD3(+) lymphocytes had a positive correlation with the course of PD in male patients (r = 0.329, P = 0.013, β = 1.423). And a negative correlation existed between the percentage of CD3(+)CD4(+) lymphocytes and the course of PD and there was a positive correlation with NMSS scale in female PD patients (r = -0.309, P = 0.045, β = -0.354; r = 0.370, P = 0.020, β = 0.486).
Conclusion: The variants in subpopulation of peripheral lymphocytes in PD patients may serve as a potential biomarker for diagnosing PD and predicting its clinical course.