TY - JOUR
T1 - Levels of recent thymic emigrant cells decrease in children undergoing partial thymectomy during cardiac surgery
AU - Madhok, Ashish B.
AU - Chandrasekran, A.
AU - Parnell, Vincent
AU - Gandhi, Mysore
AU - Chowdhury, Devyani
AU - Pahwa, Savita
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005/5
Y1 - 2005/5
N2 - The human thymus is required for establishment of a T-cell pool in fetal life, but postnatal thymectomy is not known to cause immunodeficiency. T-cell emigration from thymus (thymic recent emigrants [TRECs]) is a continuous thymic-dependent process. We studied TREC levels pre- and post-partial thymectomy in children undergoing cardiac surgery. TRECs were quantitated by real-time PCR in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 24 children (0 to 12 years). TREC values were 47916 ± 9271 pre-partial thymectomy and 33157 ± 8479 post-partial thymectomy in 11 paired patients (P = 0.014). Interval between pre- and post-partial thymectomy was 8.8 days ± 5.8 days. Another group of 8 children had 30384 ± 9748 TRECs 16 days to 6 years post-partial thymectomy. There was a significant drop in TREC values post-partial thymectomy in the immediate postoperative period compared to prethymectomy TREC levels. While decreased thymic output may persist, the long-term implications were not evaluated in this patient population.
AB - The human thymus is required for establishment of a T-cell pool in fetal life, but postnatal thymectomy is not known to cause immunodeficiency. T-cell emigration from thymus (thymic recent emigrants [TRECs]) is a continuous thymic-dependent process. We studied TREC levels pre- and post-partial thymectomy in children undergoing cardiac surgery. TRECs were quantitated by real-time PCR in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 24 children (0 to 12 years). TREC values were 47916 ± 9271 pre-partial thymectomy and 33157 ± 8479 post-partial thymectomy in 11 paired patients (P = 0.014). Interval between pre- and post-partial thymectomy was 8.8 days ± 5.8 days. Another group of 8 children had 30384 ± 9748 TRECs 16 days to 6 years post-partial thymectomy. There was a significant drop in TREC values post-partial thymectomy in the immediate postoperative period compared to prethymectomy TREC levels. While decreased thymic output may persist, the long-term implications were not evaluated in this patient population.
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U2 - 10.1128/CDLI.12.5.563-565.2005
DO - 10.1128/CDLI.12.5.563-565.2005
M3 - Article
C2 - 15879015
AN - SCOPUS:23944465452
VL - 12
SP - 563
EP - 565
JO - Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology
JF - Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology
SN - 1071-412X
IS - 5
ER -