Endocrine Abstracts

There are a limited number of studies investigating the immunological alterations accompanying the Sheehan Syndrome. The aim of this study was to evaluate lymphocyte subsets in these patients.

Flow cytofluorometry was used for the immunophenotyping of peripheral blood leukocytes from 15 patients (mean age 61.6±11.3, range 34–75 years) and 25 healthy controls (mean age 56.7±10.6, range 34–80 years). The percentages of CD3⁺, CD19⁺, CD16⁺/56⁺, CD8⁺28⁺, CD8⁺28⁻, γδTCR⁺, CD8⁺; and the ratio of CD8⁺28⁻/CD8⁺28⁺ were similar (P>0.05) between patients and controls. Whereas the leucocyte counts (P=0.004), the percentage of CD3DR (P=0.000), CD4⁺CD25⁺ (P=0.003), the ratio of CD3DR/CD3 (P=0.000) were higher, the percentage of CD4 (P=0.000) and the ratio of CD4/CD8 (P=0.006) were lower in patients with Sheehan’s syndrome compared to healthy controls (Table 1).

In conclusion, some peripheral lymphocyte cell subsets show marked variation in patients with Sheehan’s syndrome in comparison to matched healthy subjects, which may have implications for altered immune regulation in these patients.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.