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. 2011 Oct 1;8:8. doi: 10.1186/1742-4933-8-8

Table 2.

Immunological characteristics of elderly patients according to occurrence of at least one nosocomial infection within 3 months after admission.

Total (252 patients) Nosocomial infection (97 patients) No nosocomial infection (155 patients) p value
Age in years, mean (SD) 85 ± 6 85 ± 5.4 84 ± 6.2 0.295

Female gender, n (%) 181(67.9) 68 (70.1) 113(72.9) 0.631

CD4 T-cell count* 682 (555-967) 685 (534-951) 680 (561-990) 0.83

CD8 T-cell count* 312 (206-447) 348(207-557) 272 (206-412) 0.06

CD4/CD8 ratio 2.5 (1.4-3.5) 2.1 (1.3-3.2) 2.6 (1. 6-3.8) 0.027

NK cell count* 176 (112-258) 186 (112-262) 160 (110-255) 0.38

B cell count* 126 (78-175) 133 (78-175) 117 (78-184) 0.83

CD4 T cells
Naive (CD45RA+CD62L+)%** 17.7 (13.2-22.9) 16.3 (8.8-24.2) 18.7 (12.5-28.1) 0.03
Absolute value/μL 242 (148-388) 214 (125-385) 260 (155-390) 0.09
Memory
Peripheral (CD45RA-CD62L-)%** 6.5 (4.5-9.3) 6.6 (4.5-9.5) 6.5 (4.5-9.3) 0.49
Absolute value/μL 99 (56-152) 109 (64-156) 96 (53-150) 0.29
Central (CD45RA-CD62L+)%** 18.2 (10.5-26.9 16.9 (12.9-23.1) 18.3 (13.5-22.9) 0.35
Absolute value/μL 256 (175-351) 249 (174-358) 262 (172-350) 0.91
CD45RA+CD62L-%** 0.6 (0.3-1.4) 0.6 (0.2-1.4) 0.6 (0.3-1.3) 0.97
Absolute value/μL 9 (3-22) 9 (3-24) 9 (4-20) 0.93

CD8 T cells
Naive (CD45RA+CD62L+)% 5 (3.3-7.4) 4.3 (2.9-6.9) 5.2 (3.8-8) 0.006
Absolute value/μL 73 (44-115) 67 (39-107) 80 (46-125) 0.03
Memory
Peripheral (CD45RA-CD62L-)% 2.8 (1.5-4.9) 3.1 (1.6-6.2) 2.6 (1.4-4.0) 0.02
Absolute value/μL 44 (20-76) 49 (23-92) 37 (17-71) 0.01
Central (CD45RA-CD62L+)% 2.7 (1.7-3.9) 3 (1.8-3.9) 2.6 (1.6-4.1) 0.32
Absolute value/μL 38 (23-59) 41 (26-61) 36 (23-57) 0.22
Terminal Effector
CD45RA+CD62L-% 7.9 (4-12.9) 8.5(3.8-16.2) 7.2 (4.1-11.9) 0.15
Absolute value/μL 109 (54-191) 135(60-233) 101(54-169) 0.11
CD28-% 56.7 (42.5-73) 51.8 (40-66) 53.6 (40-68) 0.02
Absolute value/μL 153 (88-272) 196 (91-357) 139 (88-248) 0.01

IRP criteria***(n = 240)
CD4/CD8 < 1 (n = 245) 20 (8.2) 10 (10.5) 10 (6.7) 0.34
CD8 T-cells > 600 (n = 245) 32 (13.1) 17 (17.9) 15 (10.0) 0.07
CD28-CD8+ T-cells > 300 (n = 238) 64 (26.9) 31 (33.3) 33 (22.8) 0.07
Positive CMV serology (n = 246) 193 (78.5) 76 (79) 117 (78) 0.87
Positive IRP (n = 240, 95/145) 60 (25) 29 (30.5) 31 (21.4) 0.11

The data are medians and 25-75 percentiles, unless otherwise stated.

*Number of cells per microliter: the main lymphocyte subsets and terminal effector CD28- CD8 cells were counted directly as absolute numbers per microliter of blood (single-platform flow cytometry).

**% of total lymphocytes. Naive and memory subsets were assessed as percentages of total blood lymphocytes, and their absolute counts were computed based on the absolute counts of CD4 and CD8 T cells

***The Immune Risk Phenotype (IRP) was defined as positive CMV serology plus at least one of the three following criteria: CD4/CD8 ratio < 1, CD8T-cells > 600 cells/μL, and CD28 negative T-cells > 300 cells/μL.