Effect of Intensive phototherapy on immune system cells in Newnatal Jaundice

Abstract

Background:Neonatal jaundice is one of the most common conditions challenging
neonatologists daily is usually used for treatment.In this study, we aimed to assess the role of
intensive phototherapy on T & B lymphocyte in neonatal jaundice by measuring the
percentage of CD19+, CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes subsets in newborns with indirect
hyperbilirubinemia both; before and after 72 hours from exposure to the intensive
phototherapy including the treatment effects on the part of the immune system. Patients and
methods:A prospective cohort study was carried out in Zagazig University Hospital,
PediatricPediatric neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and Clinical Pathology
departments.Included 25 term newborns with indirect hyperbilirubinemia admitted to the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and exposed to phototherapy for treatment, and the control
group had 25 healthy term newborns.The percentages of CD19+, CD4+, and CD8+
lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were measured in the samples using immunophenotypic
analysis by flow cytometry. Results:There is a significant difference regarding total bilirubin
and indirect bilirubin before and after phototherapy. There is no significant difference
regarding CD4, CD8 and CD19 for the patient group. Furthermore, the study showed that the
percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes subsets showed no change in newborns after 72
hours of exposure to phototherapy, but CD19+ was highly significantly lower at before but no
significant difference at after.Conclusion:this study demonstrated that phototherapy did not
affect either B and T cells or the occurrence or rate of infection and need for hospitalization.