Cellular immune function changes and effect of thymosin alpha-1 on the changes in elderly patients with severe pneumonia
10.3760/cma.j.issn.0254-9026.2011.05.007
- VernacularTitle:老年重症肺炎患者细胞免疫功能改变及胸腺肽α1疗效观察
- Author:
Ningfang LIAN
;
Gongping CHEN
;
Qichang LIN
;
Yongxu JIN
;
Zhihua HUANG
;
Biying WANG
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Pneumonia;
Thymosin;
Immune,cellular
- From:
Chinese Journal of Geriatrics
2011;30(5):378-380
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To investigate the cellular immune function changes and the effect of thymosin alpha-1 on the changes in elderly patients with severe pneumonia. Methods T cell subset and natural killer (NK) cell were detected in 66 elderly patients with severe pneumonia and 34 elderly patients with common pneumonia. The severe pneumonia patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: the treatment groups (34 cases) and the control group (32 cases). All patients received conventional therapy of pneumonia. The treatment group received 1.6 mg of thymosin alpha-1 through subcutaneous injection once a day for a week and twice a week later. Results The levels of CD3, CD4, CD8 and NK cell were lower in elderly patients with severe pneumonia than in patients with common pneumonia [(43.54%±18.97%) vs. (45.46%±10.43%), (25.43%±12.72%) vs. (38.47%±8.20%), (16.68%±9.30%) vs. (22.36%±8.06%), (13.52%±4.66%) vs. (17.87%±7.11%), t=-6.779、-5.85、-3.161、-3.285 respectively all P<0.05]. The levels of CD3, CD4, CD4/CD8 and NK cell increased significantly after treatment in treatment group [(64.22%±5.53%) vs. (61.53%±13.41%), (31.70%±4.38%) vs. (26.07%±4.31%), (1.27%±0.91%) vs. (0.97%±0.22%), (17.67%±4.56%) vs. (15.44%±3.82%), F=5.591,11.526,8.934,4.564 respectively, all P<0.05]. The duration of antibiotic injection and length of stay were lower in treatment group than in control group [(14.17±2.51) d vs. (14.42±2.79) d, (12.69±2.80) d vs. (15.04±3.58) d, t=-3.152、-2.690 respectively, all P<0.05]. Conclusions The immune function of the elderly patients with severe pneumonia is lower. Thymosin alpha-1 can improve the immune function of the elder patients with severe pneumonia and is helpful for controlling an infection.