T – cell. Subset levels in some Nigerian patients with Burkitts Lymphoma

Umukoro G.E.* and Bonyesom I.B

¹Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology.
²Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences. Delta State University, Abraka. Nigeria.

ABSTRACT

The levels of CD3, CD4 and CD8 T-cell subsets were assessed in fifty-eight Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) patients aged 4-14 years at different clinical stages (I-IV) of the Disease progression, and the obtained data were compared with age – matched twenty-eight control subjects in apparently healthy condition. The results show that the level of the anti-leu 3a(CD4+ T-cell) was significantly low (P<0.05) in all the clinical stages of BL when compared with the level obtained for the control subject. The level of anti-leu 2a(CD8+ T- Cell ) progressively increases as the tumor condition deteriorates, and the levels for all the four clinical stages of BL were significantly higher (P<0.05) when compared with the level obtained from control subjects. Data shows that BL patients have abnormal immune responses which may likely become more complicated as the disease advances.

Keywords: T-cell, Burkitt’s lymphoma Immune response CD4+ CD8+.