Estimation of CD4 and CD8 T Lymphocyte Cell Count in β- Thalassemia Major Patients

Abstract

Background: Thalassemia is a group of inherited hemoglobin illnesses characterized by insufficient production of at least one of the globin chains, resulting in irregular globin-chain output. Damaged hemoglobin finally causes anemia. higher incidence of severe infections, indicating the presence of a basic immune system deficiency that may be connected to iron excess, immunological deficiency, splenectomy, and recurrent blood transfusions all cause long-term immune activation. Objectives: Estimating the CD4 and CD8 level count in β- thalassemia major patients. Material and Methods: The Babylon Province (hereditary blood disease center) conducted a case-control study from January 2023 to April 2023. The study involved 90 patients with thalassemia major and 75 healthy controls. Flow Cytometry was used to detect the CD4 and CD8 T lymphocyte cell count in the blood. Result: It was found that the CD4 T cell count in beta-thalassemia major patients was 29.51±4.39 compared to their control group's 36.53±3.76, which showed very significant differences in this study between patients and healthy group (P<0.0001). While the number of CD8 T cells seen in primary patients with beta-thalassemia was 23.15±3.34 compared to the control 32.91±5.36, which also showed a very high significant difference in this study between patients and the healthy group (P<0.0001). Conclusion: In patients with β-thalassemia major, a decrease in the count of the CD4 and CD8 compared with the healthy control group due to immune dysfunction in β-thalassemia major patients is caused by a defect in the T-lymphocyte function rather than by the decrease of absolute T-cell count.