Reference Ranges for Lymphocyte Subsets among Healthy Hong Kong Chinese Adults by Single-Platform Flow Cytometry

Abstract

ABSTRACT Race, age, sex, and environmental conditions have significant impacts on lymphocyte subset values. It is important to establish the local reference ranges from healthy and non-HIV-positive adults in the local population for clinical decision making. In this study, the reference ranges for lymphocyte subsets among Chinese adults were established by analysis by single-platform flow cytometry of the lymphocyte compositions of 273 healthy adult blood donors between 17 and 59 years of age. The 95% reference ranges for CD3 + T cells, CD3 + CD4 + T helper cells, and CD3 + CD8 + T suppressor cells are 723 to 2,271 cells/μl, 396 to 1,309 cells/μl, and 224 to 1,014 cells/μl, respectively. The 95% reference ranges for CD19 + B cells and CD56 + NK cells are 118 to 645 cells/μl and 61 to 607 cells/μl, respectively. Significant gender and age differences in the lymphocyte subsets have been demonstrated. Our results have also shown that the T-lymphocyte compositions in Hong Kong Chinese were comparable to those of other Asian populations but were different from those of Caucasians.