Expansion of CD14(+)CD16(+) monocytes is related to acute leukemia

Objective: Aim to investigate the proportion of CD14(+)CD16(+) monocytes and understand the pathogenesis of this monocyte subset in acute leukemia.

Methods: Flow cytometry was utilized to study the phenotype expression of CD14(+)CD16(+) monocytes and CD3(+) T lymphocytes in peripheral blood derived from patients with acute leukemia. All the data were analyzed by SPSS 13.0 software.

Results: The proportion of CD14(+)CD16(+) monocytes including both intermediate and non-classical monocytes, increased significantly in patients with acute leukemia and changed negatively or positively according to the disease process. Meanwhile, the proportion of CD14(+)CD16(+) monocytes was inversely correlated with absolute number of CD4(+) T lymphocytes, ratio of CD4(+)/CD8(+) T cells, and positively correlated with the proportion of neutrophil granulocytes.

Conclusions: The proportion of CD14(+)CD16(+) monocytes (especially the intermediate subpopulation) is related to the progression of acute leukemia, and the expansion of this monocyte subset could indicate the severity of the disease.