T cell receptor excision circles as a tool for evaluating thymic function in young children.

T cell receptor excision circles as a tool for evaluating thymic function in young children. Braz J Med Biol Res. 2019;52(7):e8292 Authors: Levy A, Rangel-Santos A, Torres LC, Silveira-Abreu G, Agena F, Carneiro-Sampaio M Abstract The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ responsible for the maturation of T cells as well as the immunological central tolerance. It is in the antenatal period and infancy that it plays its major role. In clinical practice, T cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) are considered a direct and reliable measure of the thymic function. TRECs are a by-product of DNA formation in gene rearrangement of T cell receptors. They are stable and they do not duplicate during mitosis, representing the recent emigrant T cells from the thymus. Despite their importance, TRECs have been neglected by physicians and there is a lack of data regarding thymic function during infancy of healthy children. In order to evaluate thymic function in the first years of life, we propose measuring TRECs as a valuable tool. One hundred and three blood samples from children and adolescents between 3 months and 20 years of age were analyzed. The mean TRECs count was 136.77±96.7 copies of TRECs/μL of DNA. The individuals between 0 and 5 years of age had significantly higher TRECs values than those between 10 and 20 years of age. No significant difference was observed in TRECs values among age groups below 5 years of age. An inverse correlation...
Source: Braz J Med Biol Res - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Braz J Med Biol Res Source Type: research