CD1d levels in peripheral blood of patients with acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The antitumor effect of natural killer T cells has been reported in several studies analyzing the expression of CD1d on antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Therefore, the present study questioned whether APCs may be abnormal in the peripheral blood (PB) of acute leukemia (AL) patients, particularly the levels of CD1d. To improve the understanding of the role of CD1d on APCs, the levels of CD1d on monocytes were analyzed in healthy controls, AL patients and AL patients with complete remission (CR). In addition, the correlation between the number of CD3+CD56+ T lymphocytes and levels of CD1d on monocytes was analyzed. Flow cytometry was used to determine the levels of CD1d on monocytes and lymphocytes. A significant decrease was observed in the levels of CD1d on monocytes in the PB of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients compared with the healthy controls. Simultaneously, significantly different levels of CD1d on monocytes were identified between the CR-AML and the CR-ALL patients; the levels of CD1d on monocytes remained low in the CR-AML patients, while the levels of CD1d on monocytes recovered in the CR-ALL patients. A significantly negative correlation was observed between the number of CD3+CD56+ T lymphocytes and the levels of CD1d on monocytes in AL patients. However, a significantly positive correlation was identified between the cytotoxicity of the CD3+CD56+ T lymphocytes and the levels of CD1d on monocytes. These results suggested that the significantly low levels of CD1d on monocytes may contribute to AML and ALL progression. In addition, a significant correlation was observed between the levels of CD1d on monocytes and the number/cytotoxicity of CD3+CD56+ T lymphocytes in AML and ALL patients.