T cell receptor excision circles as a tool for evaluating thymic function in young children
Braz. j. med. biol. res
; 52(7): e8292, 2019. tab, graf
Article
en En
| LILACS
| ID: biblio-1011589
Biblioteca responsable:
BR1.1
ABSTRACT
The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ responsible for the maturation of T cells as well as the immunological central tolerance. It is in the antenatal period and infancy that it plays its major role. In clinical practice, T cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) are considered a direct and reliable measure of the thymic function. TRECs are a by-product of DNA formation in gene rearrangement of T cell receptors. They are stable and they do not duplicate during mitosis, representing the recent emigrant T cells from the thymus. Despite their importance, TRECs have been neglected by physicians and there is a lack of data regarding thymic function during infancy of healthy children. In order to evaluate thymic function in the first years of life, we propose measuring TRECs as a valuable tool. One hundred and three blood samples from children and adolescents between 3 months and 20 years of age were analyzed. The mean TRECs count was 136.77±96.7 copies of TRECs/μL of DNA. The individuals between 0 and 5 years of age had significantly higher TRECs values than those between 10 and 20 years of age. No significant difference was observed in TRECs values among age groups below 5 years of age. An inverse correlation between TRECs and age was found (r=0.3 P=0.003). These data highlight and validate the evidence of decreased thymus function with age, even during infancy. Awareness should be raised with this important albeit ignored organ.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
LILACS
Asunto principal:
Timo
/
Receptores de Antígenos de Linfocitos T
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Humans
/
Infant
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Braz. j. med. biol. res
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
/
MEDICINA
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Brasil
Pais de publicación:
BR
/
BRASIL
/
BRASILE
/
BRAZIL
/
BRESIL