Association between lymphocyte subsets and cytomegalovirus infection status among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: A pilot study

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the association between different lymphocyte subsets and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection status in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We performed a retrospective study among SLE patients with CMV infection and collected patient socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as their recorded circulating lymphocyte subsets. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses examined the relationship between CMV infection status and lymphocyte subset counts. We included 125 hospitalized patients with SLE, consisting of 88 with documented CMV infection and 37 without any evidence of CMV or other infections. Among the 88 CMV-infected patients, 65 (73.8%) patients developed CMV disease and 23 (26.2%) presented as CMV viremia. Compared to uninfected patients (1520±101cells/μL), lymphocytes remained stable among those with CMV viremia (1305±272cells/μL, P=.995). However, compared to their uninfected counterparts, there was a marked decrease in lymphocytes among patients with CMV disease (680±513cells/μL, P