Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. T Cell Biology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1507800

Effects of neutrophil granule proteins on sepsis-associated lymphopenia and their relationship with CD4 + T-cell pyroptosis

Provisionally accepted
Na Cui Na Cui *Jia-yu Mao Jia-yu Mao Yawen Xie Yawen Xie Xianli Lei Xianli Lei Jia-Hui Zhang Jia-Hui Zhang Wei Cheng Wei Cheng
  • Department of Critical Care Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Neutrophil acts as double-edged swords in the immune system. We hypothesized that elevated neutrophil granule protein level is associated with sepsis-associated lymphopenia (SAL).: We enrolled 61 patients with sepsis admitted to the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Peking Union Medical College Hospital between May 2022 and October 2023 in this study. Clinical and immunological parameters were recorded. Levels of neutrophil granule proteins, including myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neutrophil elastase (NE), and pyroptosis factors were examined.Results: Levels of neutrophil granule proteins [MPO, 82.9 vs. 175.3, p <0.0001; NE, 56.3 vs. 144.2, p <0.0001] were significantly higher in sepsis patients with lymphopenia. Neutrophil granule protein levels were independently associated with SAL risk [MPO: OR=1.0841, 95% CI 1.0020-1.1730; NE: OR=1.0540, 95% CI 1.0040-1.1065]. The area under the curve of MPO levels predicting SAL occurrence was 0.939 (95% CI, 0.846-0.984), and that of NE was 0.950 (95% CI, 0.862-0.989).Furthermore, neutrophil granule proteins were significantly correlated with CD4 + T cell and its pyroptosis [MPO and CD4 + T cells (r = -0.4039, p < 0.0001), CD4 + NLRP3 (r = 0.4868, p < 0.0001), NE and CD4 + T cells (r = -0.5140, p < 0.0001), and CD4 + NLRP3 (r = 0.6513, p < 0.0001)].Increased levels of neutrophil granule proteins were significantly associated with SAL incidence, and a significant relationship of neutrophil granule proteins with the pyroptosis pathway of CD4 + T cells was revealed.

    Keywords: Sepsis, sepsis-associated lymphopenia, Neutrophil granule proteins, CD4 lymphocytes, pyroptosis

    Received: 08 Oct 2024; Accepted: 20 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Cui, Mao, Xie, Lei, Zhang and Cheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Na Cui, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.