Expression of CD14⁺ HLA-DR^low/- monocytes in peripheral blood of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and its significance

Objective To assess the immune function of newly diagnosed patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and to compare the results with clinical data and the treatment effect to seek new immune targets related to prognosis. Methods The peripheral blood samples from 37 cases of new untreated NHL patients and 28 cases of healthy controls were collected. The absolute counts and relative proportion of different immune ceffs were detected by flow cytometry. The clinical data of the patients and controls were collected and software was used to do statistical analysis. Results The absolute number of monocyte was higher in NHL patients compared with healthy controls (536.20 × 10⁹/µ1 vs. 374.90 × 10⁹/µ 1, P < 0.01). The classical CD14⁺⁺CD16^- monocyte counts were higher in NHL patients compared with healthy controls (502.30 × 10⁹/µ1 vs. 325.10 × 10⁹/µ1, P< 0.01). The ratio of absolute lymphocyte count to absolute monocyte count (ALC/AMC) was decreased in NHL patients compared with healthy controls (1.62 vs. 2.45, P< 0.01). HLA-DR expression was decreased on each subtype of monocyte of NHL patients, among which the difference of intermediate monocyte (CD14⁺⁺CD16⁺) (25.43 MFI vs. 33.52 MFI, P<0.01) and non-classical monocyte (CD14⁺CD16⁺⁺) (11.40 MFI vs. 15.70 MFI, P < 0.01) were of statistical significance. The ratio of CD14⁺HLA-DR^low/- monocyte was not associated with the patient's gender, pathological type, remission or relapse. For NHL patients, the ratio of CD14⁺HLA-DR^low/- monocyte in age below 57.8 years was higher than that of patients with age above 57.8 years (43.83% vs. 23.85%, P<0.01). The ratio of CD14⁺HLA-DR^low/- monocyte in patients with Ann Arbor stage III-IV was higher than that of patients with Ann Arbor stage I -II (41.51% vs. 18.40%, P< 0.01); The ratio of CD14⁺HLA-DR^low/- monocyte in patients with IPI score 3-4 points was higher than that of patients with IPI score 1-2 points (52.5% vs. 18.47%, P<0.01). Conclusions Peripheral CD14⁺HLA-DR^low/- monocyte is associated with poor prognosis in NHL patients. It may be considered as an important index to anticipate patients with disease progression and prognosis.