EFFECT OF HYDROCORTISONE IN A LOW DOSAGE ON APOPTOSIS OF T LYMPHOCYTE SUBSET IN TREATMENT OF SEPSIS

YAN WANG*, BIAO WANG**, LI MA1, XINGQIN ZHAO*, YUANYUAN QIAO**, XIAOJUAN ZHANG*

* Department of emergency, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University Jining, 272029PR China - **Intensive Care Unit, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University Jining, 272029PR China

Objective: To investigate the effect of hydrocortisone in a low dosage on T lymphocyte subset in peripheral blood in treatment of sepsis.

Methods: A total of 84 sepsis patients were divided randomly into the observation group (treatment with low-dosage hydrocortisone, n=42) and treatment control group (n=42), and 42 healthy subjects were selected as healthy control group. Flow cytometer and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit were used to detect the levels of T lymphocyte subset, tumor necrosis factor-????(TNF-????), interleukin-1 (IL-1) and calcitonin to observe the effects of hydrocortisone in a low dosage on these indicators in treatment of sepsis.

Results: In sepsis patients, the level of CD4+ was significantly decreased in comparison with the healthy control group (p<0.01), while difference of CD8+ level between sepsis patients and healthy subjects had no statistical significance (p>0.05). After 72 h of treatment with low- dosage hydrocortisone, the level of CD4+ was increased, and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ approached nearly 1, suggesting that the efficacy of hydrocortisone is superior to that in treatment control group. The levels of inflammatory factors in sepsis patients were significantly higher than those in healthy control group, which, however, was significantly ameliorated after 72 h of treatment with hydrocortisone in a low dosage, and the efficacy was superior to that in the treatment control group.

Conclusion: Low-dosage hydrocortisone can ameliorate the prognosis of sepsis patients, which may act through regulating the levels of T lymphocyte subset and inflammatory factors.