T-cell profile and systemic cytokine levels in overweight-obese patients with moderate to very-severe COPD

This study aimed to evaluate the immune profile of lean and overweight-obese COPD patients. Forty patients with moderate to very severe COPD were divided into lean group (n = 20; aged 62.00 ± 8.91 years; BMI 22.26 ± 1.65 kg/m2) or overweight-obese group (n = 20; aged 65.40 ± 6.69 years; BMI 29.19 ± 3.55 kg/m2). The cytokine profile (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, INF-γ, and TNF-α) was evaluated through the Cytometric Bead Array technique, and the expression of CD4, CD8, CD25, CD45ra, CD45ro, CD69, CD195(CCr5) and HLA-DR were evaluated in CD3+ T-cells. Overweight-obese COPD group had lower levels of IL-2 (p = 0.01) and higher INF-γ levels (p = 0.02) and IL-6 (p = 0.003) than lean COPD. Lean COPD patients had higher CD25+ (p = 0.01), CCr5 (p = 0.04) and HLA-DR (p = 0.007) expression on T cell surface compared to overweight-obese COPD participants. These changes are related to immune dysfunction of obesity, and excess of fat mass in COPD can be a key factor to low T-cells activation.