Numbers and cytotoxicities of CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes in peripheral blood of patients with acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia

Figures & data

Table 1. Numbers of CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood in patients with AML, ALL, CR-AML, CR-ALL, and in healthy controls

	Healthy controls	AML	ALL	CR-ALL	CR-ALL
Proportion	2.72% ± 1.58%	6.05% ± 1.83%*	7.08% ± 3.70%*	3.58% ± 1.01%	3.26% ± 1.53%
Number (× 10^6/L)	58.9 ± 34.7	162.4 ± 54.1*	183.3 ± 91.7 *	52.4 ± 14.4	43.5 ± 3.9

AL, acute leukemia; CR, complete remission; AML, acute myeloid leukemia; ALL, acute lymphocytic leukemia. *P < 0.05 in one-way ANOVA

Figure 1. Levels and numbers of CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with AL, CR-AL, and healthy controls. CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes were significantly increased in AML and ALL patients compared with healthy controls, and levels recovered in AL patients who achieved CR. CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes were also increased in AML patients with WBC counts >10 × 10⁹/L and ALL patients with WBC counts <10 × 10⁹/L. (A) CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes. (B) Numbers in healthy controls, AML, ALL, CR-AML, and CR-ALL patients. (C) Numbers in healthy controls, AML-1, AML-2, ALL-1, and ALL-2 patients.

Table 2. Numbers of CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with AML-1, ALL-1, AML-2, ALL-2, and in healthy controls

	Healthy controls	AML-1	ALL-1	AML- 2	ALL-2
Proportion	2.72% ± 1.58%	7.90% ± 0.72%*	0.94% ± 0.39%	3.89% ± 0.54%	10.15% ± 2.93%*
Number (× 10^6/L)	58.9 ± 34.7	206.5 ± 31.2*	13.6 ± 1.64	116.4 ± 31.8	220.9 ± 59.7*

AML-1, acute myeloid leukemia patients with increased (>10 × 10⁹/L) WBC counts at the time of diagnosis; ALL-1, acute lymphocytic leukemia patients with increased (>10 × 10⁹/L) WBC counts at the time of diagnosis; AML-2, acute myeloid leukemia patients with low WBC counts (<10 × 10⁹/L) at diagnosis; ALL-2, acute lymphocytic leukemia patients with low WBC counts (<10 × 10⁹/L) at diagnosis. *P < 0.05 in one-way ANOVA

Table 3. Function of CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with AML, ALL, CR-AML, CR-ALL, and healthy controls

	Perforin	P*
Healthy control	63.8% ± 7.10%	< 0.05
AML	26.1% ± 3.34%	< 0.05
ALL	21.2% ± 4.23%	< 0.05
CR-AML	13.2% ± 4.81%	< 0.05
CR-ALL	27.3% ± 2.70%	< 0.05

AL, acute leukemia; CR, complete remission; AML, acute myeloid leukemia; ALL, acute lymphocytic leukemia. *P < 0.05 in one-way ANOVA

Figure 2. Perforin expression in CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with AL patient, CR-AL, and healthy controls in relation to WBC count. In each plot, the red peak represents the negative control for perforin, and the blue peak represents perforin expression in each group, respectively.Perforin expression levels in AML and ALL patients were lower than in healthy controls, and remained lower even after CR. Changes in WBC counts in AML and ALL patients had no effect on perforin expression. (A) Healthy controls, (B) AML-1, (C) AML-2; (D) ALL-1, (E) ALL-2, (F) CR-AML, (G) CR-ALL.

Table 4. Function of CD3⁺CD56⁺ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with AML and ALL in relation to WBC count at diagnosis

	Perforin	P*
AML-1	22.5% ± 4.53%	>0.05
AML-2	35.5% ± 4.80%	>0.05
ALL-1	21.3% ± 8.05%	>0.05
ALL-2	21.1% ± 1.82%	>0.05

AML-1,indicates acute myeloid leukemia patients with increased (>10 × 10⁹/L) WBC counts at the time of diagnosis;ALL-1, acute lymphocytic leukemia patients with increased (>10 × 10⁹/L) WBC counts at the time of diagnosis;AML-2, acute myeloid leukemia patients whose WBC counts were low (<10 × 10⁹/L) at diagnosis,ALL-2, acute lymphocytic leukemia patients whose WBC counts were low (<10 × 10⁹/L) at diagnosis. *One-way ANOVA.

Table 5. Characteristics of AML/ALL and CR AML/ALL patients

	Number
AML	24
WBC > 10 × 10^9/L	14
WBC < 10 × 10^9/L	10
ALL	16
WBC > 10 × 10^9/L	6
WBC < 10 × 10^9/L	10
CR-AML	14
CR-ALL	14

AL, acute leukemia; CR, complete remission; AML, acute myeloid leukemia; ALL, acute lymphocytic leukemia; WBC, white blood cell