T Cell Response in Patients with Implanted Biological and Mechanical Prosthetic Heart Valves

The study was aimed at assessing T cell subsets of peripheral blood from recipients of long-term functioning (more than 60 months) biological and mechanical heart valve prostheses. The absolute and relative number of CD4 and CD8 T cell subsets was analyzed: naïve (N, CD45RA(+)CD62L(+)), central memory (CM, CD45RA(−)CD62L(+)), effector memory (EM, CD45RA(−)CD62L(−)), and terminally differentiated CD45RA-positive effector memory (TEMRA, CD45RA(+)CD62L(−)) in 25 persons with biological and 7 with mechanical prosthesis compared with 48 apparently healthy volunteers. The relative and absolute number of central memory and naïve CD3(+)CD8(+) in patients with biological prosthesis was decreased (p < 0.001). Meanwhile the number of CD45RA(+)CD62L(−)CD3(+)CD8(+) and CD3(+)CD4(+) was increased (p < 0.001). Patients with mechanical prosthesis had increased absolute and relative number of CD45RA(+)CD62L(−)CD3(+)CD8(+) cells (p = 0.006). Also the relative number of CD3(+)CD4(+) cells was reduced (p = 0.04). We assume that altered composition of T cell subsets points at development of xenograft rejection reaction against both mechanical and biological heart valve prostheses.