The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Score and the Follow-Up Period Can Cause the Shift of Circulating Lymphocyte Subsets in Liver Transplant Recipients

Abstract

Little is known about the shift of lymphocytes under the condition of the model for end-stage liver disease score and the follow-up period. Then, we detected the peripheral blood from liver transplant recipients by flow cytometry and compared the results. The model for end-stage liver disease score affected the percentages of T-cell subsets and B cells during the short-term follow-up period, but failed to influence the lymphocyte subsets during the long-term follow-up period. In contrast, the follow-up period not only affected the absolute counts of T-cell subsets and natural killer (NK) cells in patients with the low model for end-stage liver disease scores, but also influenced the percentages and absolute counts of T-cell subsets in patients with the high model for end-stage liver disease scores. In the two-way ANOVA, we further revealed that the model for end-stage liver disease score was associated with the percentages of T cells and CD4+ T cells and the absolute numbers of T-cell subsets and B cells, while the follow-up period was associated with the percentages of T-cell subsets and the absolute numbers of lymphocyte subsets. Therefore, patients with either the low model for end-stage liver disease scores or the long-term follow-up period are in a relatively activated immune condition.

Impact of the diagnosis of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in patients undergoing liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Consequently, upon admission, certain patients exhibited severe cirrhosis and liver function decompensation, as determined by high MELD scores and Child-Pugh grade B or C ratios. These factors might result in malnutrition and a decrease in lymphocyte subset percentages ( 20 ), thereby significantly reducing the number of both MAFLD and NAFLD cases. Therefore, the characteristics of pre-transplant MAFLD and NAFLD in LTR with HCC were found to be similar upon comparison, suggesting the interchangeability of these two terms in a clinical setting.…”

Immature and activated phenotype of blood NK cells is associated with acute rejection in adult liver transplant

“…MELDs in our center are relatively low when compared with other parts of the world. [57] High MELDs and severe HBV infection may affect the peripheral blood NK-cell population, [58,59] which underlines the need to verify the results in a high MELD cohort. The infiltrated recipient peripheral NK-cell expression in the graft of the rejecting patient and its correlation with the peripheral blood counterpart remain unknown.…”