High circulating CD39+ regulatory T cells predict poor survival for sepsis patients

• Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of sepsis by regulating the immune response.
• CD39+ Tregs have been reported to be a more powerful subset of Tregs in suppressing the immune response and play a key role in the pathogenesis of some inflammatory diseases.
• The role of CD39+ Tregs in the pathogenesis of sepsis is uncertain, and the model for predicting survival in sepsis is limited.

SummaryBackgroundSepsis encompasses two phases, the ‘hyper’-reactive phase and the ‘hypo’-reactive phase. The initial inflammatory stage is quickly counterbalanced by an anti-inflammatory response, which compromises the immune system, leading to immune suppression. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of sepsis by inducing immunosuppression; however, the role of CD39+ Tregs in the process of sepsis is uncertain. This study investigated the dynamic levels of CD39+ Tregs and their phenotypic change in sepsis.MethodsFourteen patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), 42 patients with sepsis, and 14 healthy controls were enrolled. Sequential blood samples were used to analyze the numbers of CD39+ Tregs and their phenotypic changes. Survival at 28 days was used to evaluate the capacity of CD39+ Treg levels to predict mortality in sepsis patients.ResultsSepsis patients displayed a high percentage (3.13%, 1.46%, and 0.35%, respectively) and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) (59.65, 29.7, and 24.3, respectively) of CD39+ Tregs compared with SIRS patients and healthy subjects. High-level expression of CD39+ Tregs was correlated with the severity of sepsis, which was reflected by the sepsis-related organ failure assessment score (r = 0.322 and r = 0.31, respectively). In addition, the expression of CD39+ Tregs was associated with survival of sepsis patients (p < 0.01). By receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the percentage and MFI of CD39+ Tregs showed similar sensitivities and specificities to predict mortality (74.2% and 85.1%, and 73.9% and 84.1%, respectively). Using Kaplan–Meier curves to assess the impact of CD39+ Tregs percentage and MFI on overall survival, we found that a high CD39+ Tregs percentage (p < 0.001; >4.1%) and MFI (p < 0.001; >49.2) were significantly associated with mortality. Phenotypically, CD39+ Tregs from sepsis patients showed high expression of CD38 and PD-1 (p < 0.01 and p < 0.01 respectively).ConclusionsIncreased expression of CD39+ Tregs was associated with a poor prognosis for sepsis patients, which suggests that CD39+ Treg levels could be used as a biomarker to predict the outcome of sepsis patients.