Normal ranges of some select lymphocyte sub-populations in peripheral blood of normal healthy Indians

Abstract

A national task force was constituted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), to define reference ranges for several lymphocyte sub-populations in healthy Indians. The task force comprised six centres in different locations in India and analysed by flow cytometry, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD16 and CD56 populations in peripheral blood samples from a total of 1027 healthy Indians. National means of percentages of different sub-populations of lymphocytes were determined as follows: 68.65% (CD3); 37.10% (CD4); 34.04% (CD8); 14.67% (CD19); 14.58% (CD16) and 12.44% (CD56). Mean CD4/CD8 ratio was 1.2 for all samples. Significant geographical differences were found in percentages of CD4 and CD8 sub-populations and consequently in their ratios. In southern states, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala, CD4/CD8 ratios were significantly lower than in northern and western parts of India. Detailed statistical analysis of the data and effects of variables like age, sex, smoking, consumption of alcohol, nutritional status, and self-perception of state of health on lymphocyte sub-populations, have been presented.