CD38+ T-Cell Count Is an Immunologic Phenotype Associated With Blood Pressure.

Background

T lymphocytes play a crucial role in the development of hypertension and associated end-organ damage. CD38 is a well-established surface marker for T-cell activation. However, clinical evidence linking CD38+ T cells, or other specific T-cell subsets, with blood pressure (BP) changes remains limited. We therefore sought to determine whether CD38+ T-cell abundance correlates with BP and whether anti-CD38 therapy influences BP in humans and mice.

Methods

We performed correlation analyses between peripheral immune cell counts and BP in 197 normotensive and 53 hypertensive subjects. The impact of CD38-targeted therapy on BP was evaluated in multiple myeloma patients (control, n=50; daratumumab, n=27). In addition, we used a murine model of angiotensin II-induced hypertension to characterize T-cell frequency and phenotype in the circulation and kidney by flow cytometry.

Results

Circulating CD38+ T-cell abundance was inversely correlated with BP in both normotensive and hypertensive subjects. This finding was recapitulated in hypertensive mice, which also showed concomitant accumulation of CD38+ T cells in the kidney. In patients, daratumumab-induced depletion of CD38+ cells reduced systolic BP by ≈10 mm Hg for 4 to 6 weeks. This BP-lowering effect was similarly observed in hypertensive mice given an antimurine CD38 antibody.

Conclusions

Our data identify circulating CD38+ T cells as a novel immunologic biomarker that inversely correlates with BP, potentially reflecting T-cell transmigration during BP elevation.