Investigation of Lymphocyte Subsets in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the immune profiles in benign prostatic hyperplasia, changes in the absolute number of lymphocyte subsets and the proportion of T lymphocyte subsets were detected. METHODS: Absolute value of lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood (T, B and NK cells) and the proportion of T lymphocyte (native CD4(+) T cell, memory CD4(+) T cell, CD8(+)CD28(+) T cell, CD8(+)CDDR(+) T cells and CD8(+)CD38(+) T cell) were measured by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The absolute values of CD3(+) T cell (972.55±330.31 vs 1757.99±439.38), CD4(+) T cell (656.43±252.39 vs 899.30±262.10), and CD8(+) T cell (301.97±147.76 vs 728.45±230.34) in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia were significantly reduced (all P<0.05). There was no significant difference in NK cell (285.58±182.84 vs 528.92±208.17) and B cell (186.66±86.62 vs 334.17±130.46). The proportion of naive CD4(+) T cell (3.75±0.50 vs 8.54±1.61) in T lymphocyte subsets in patients with BPH was significantly reduced (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in memory CD4(+) T cell (87.9±6.37 vs 92.63±5.94), CD8(+)CD28(+) T cell (60.52±13.86 vs 64.32±12.78), CD8(+)CDDR(+) T cell (36.58±12.87 vs 31.92±8.54) and CD8(+)CD38(+) T cell (2.1±1.90 vs 2.55±2.01). CONCLUSION: Immune dysfunction raised the risk of viral infection, inflammatory stimulation, and tumor induction in prostate cells, leading to hyperplasia, and immune non-response was potentially a key factor in the transformation of BPH into prostate cancer.