Age-Related Lymphocyte and Neutrophil Levels in Children of Hepatitis C-Infected Women

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Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2008 Jul 25. [Epub ahead of print]

Age-Related Lymphocyte and Neutrophil Levels in Children of Hepatitis C-Infected

Women.

Pembrey L, Newell ML, Tovo PA; European Paediatric Hepatitis C Virus Network.

From the *Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of

Child Health and Great Ormond Hospital for Children NHS Trust, University

College London, London, UK; daggerAfrica Centre for Health and Population

Studies, University of KwaZulu Natal, Somkhele, South Africa; and double

daggerDipartimento di Scienze Pediatriche e dell' Adolescenza, Università degli

Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy.

BACKGROUND:: Investigation of immunologic values in children vertically exposed

to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection could help explain the higher risk of

infection in girls and indicate mechanisms of spontaneous viral clearance and

possible long-term immunologic effects. METHODS:: Prospective study of children

born to HCV-infected women. Lymphocyte and neutrophil measurements were

age-standardized using the LMS method (this summarizes the changing age

distribution of a variable). Associations between maternal and infant

characteristics and lymphocyte and neutrophil z-scores were quantified using

linear regression allowing for repeated measures. RESULTS:: HCV-infected

children, girls, and those born to HCV/human immunodeficiency virus

(HIV)-coinfected women had significantly higher lymphocyte z-scores than

HCV-uninfected children, boys, and children born to HCV-only-infected women,

respectively. Peak absolute lymphocytes were significantly lower for infected

children with evidence of viral clearance than for persistently infected

children. Girls also had significantly higher neutrophil z-scores than boys but

HCV-infected children had significantly lower neutrophil z-scores than

uninfected children. CONCLUSIONS:: The gender associations are in line with

those observed among children born to HIV-infected women, suggesting general

gender-based differences in response to infection. Age-related standards for

uninfected children could be used to assess immune function in other pediatric

diseases and these results suggest that gender-specific reference values should

be used at least for the first 2 years of life.

PMID: 18664931 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]