Table 2.
Serum YKL-40 and markers of the immune risk phenotype.
| Low YKL-40 | Medium YKL-40 | High YKL-40 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD4 : CD8 ratio | 2·3 (1·5–3·4) | 2·7 (1·8–3·5) | 1·7 (1·3–2·3)* |
| n = 50 | n = 49 | n = 47 | |
| CD28–CD8+ (cells/ml blood) | 135 (81–192) × 103 | 115 (60–160) × 103 | 154 (71–263) × 103 |
| n = 43 | n = 43 | n = 41 | |
| PHA proliferation (cpm) | 8392 (5161–11 078) | 7764 (5811–9003) | 7457 (5408–9542) |
| n = 48 | n = 47 | n = 48 | |
| PWM proliferation (cpm) | 1275 (884–2174) | 1158 (651–1823) | 1255 (764–2430) |
| n = 47 | n = 47 | n = 47 | |
| IL-2 proliferation (cpm) | 644 (307–890) | 518 (320–960) | 572 (392–860) |
| n = 47 | n = 45 | n = 44 | |
| NK (cells/ml blood) | 183 (104–317) × 103 | 159 (96–284) × 103 | 182 (97–281) × 103 |
| n = 44 | n = 44 | n = 39 | |
| NK cytotoxicity (%) | 10 (6–17) | 15 (8–21) | 12 (9–24) |
| n = 46 | n = 50 | n = 45 |
*
Denotes P < 0·02 in a one-way analysis of variance. Turkey post-hoc test shows significant difference between medium YKL-40 and high YKL-40. Natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity has the effector/target cell ratio 50 : 1. YKL-40 is divided by tertiles into low, medium and high. Median and quartiles are shown. The immune risk phenotype constitutes a predictor of non-survival in longitudinal studies. PHA, phytohaemagglutinin; PWM, pokeweed mitogen; IL-2, interleukin-2; cpm: counts per million.