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. 2023 Oct 23:21:eAO0291.
doi: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2023AO0291. eCollection 2023.

Determining reference ranges for immunological cells of healthy indigenous individuals from a region in Brazil

Isa Rita Brito de Morais  1 , Dyjaene de Oliveira Barbosa  1 , Gabriel Barroso de Almeida  1 , Regina Rossoni da Costa  2 , Bruna Oliveira da Silva  2 , Laís Albuquerque de Oliveira  2 , Julia Pimentel Arantes  2 , Layla Oliveira Campos Leite  2 , Luana Rossato  2 , Marcos Borges Ribeiro  1 , Silvana Beutinger Marchioro  1 , Songelí Menezes Freire  1 , Roberto José Meyer Nascimento  1 , Simone Simionatto  1 , Alex José Leite Torres  1
Affiliations

Determining reference ranges for immunological cells of healthy indigenous individuals from a region in Brazil

Isa Rita Brito de Morais et al. Einstein (Sao Paulo). .

Abstract

Morais et al. conducted a pioneering study with Brazilian indigenous populations to determine reference values for immunologic cells from healthy adult individuals. The main findings included a higher relative median for T lymphocyte subsets in females than males, and T CD3+, T CD4+, and T CD8+ relative values were statistically different when compared with Brazilian populations from other Brazilian regions. The relative medians of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells were significantly higher in women than in men in a healthy indigenous population. Demographic and ethnic diversity of the Brazilian population can be associated with quantitative modifications in the immunologic cells of healthy individuals.

Objective: The establishment of reference values for a subset of leukocytes is common in clinical practice, and ethnic variations are strongly associated with disease development. In Brazil, indigenous people are vulnerable to infections, and few studies have described the health and disease conditions of this population. This study aimed to provide reference values for immunological cell subsets in indigenous Brazilians living in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Methods: Flow cytometry and 4-color combinations of monoclonal antibodies were used to characterize cells. A total of 115 healthy adults, mostly females (72%), were included in the study. The results are presented as mean and median (2.5%-97.5% percentiles) for T and B lymphocytes, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, Natural Killer cells, monocytes, and dendritic cells, providing an average immunological profile for the population in question.

Results: The relative medians of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells were significantly higher in women than in men in a healthy indigenous population.

Conclusion: To our knowledge, cell reference data from indigenous Brazilians are unknown in the literature. The immune cell results presented in this pioneering study will contribute to the clinical and laboratory evaluation of the Brazilian indigenous population, especially given the important differences when compared with other Brazilian ethnic groups.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: none.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow cytometry gating strategy to lymphocyte subsets identification. Lymphocyte (R1) and monocytes (R2) were isolated by forward scatter versus side scatter strategy (A) and side scatter versus CD45+ (B) CD4+ (C) CD8+ (D) T lymphocytes, memory T CD4+ cells (E) and B lymphocytes (F) were identified by the quadrante that express double positive to the X and Y axis of the dot plots
Figure 2
Figure 2. T lymphocytes subsets reference values of indigenous from Mato Grosso do Sul and populations of other states in Brazil
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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