Coagulation and immunological indexes in children with Epstein-Barr virus infection and its clinical significance

Objective To investigate the changes and clinical significance of indexes of coagulation function and immune function of children infected with EB virus (EBV). Methods Total of 82 children infected with EBV from February 2017 to February 2018 in Qinghai Red Cross Hospital were selected as observation group, while 82 healthy children who were examined in our hospital were selected as control group. Blood samples of enrolled cases were collected. Thrombin time (TT), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial prothrombin time (APTT) and fibrinogen (FIB) were detected and compared between the two groups by unified method, respectively. The levels of coagulation indexes such as DD dimer (D-D) and immune indexes such as IgG, IgM, IgA and CD4+ T cells were also detected, respectively. Results The levels of TT, PT and APTT of children with EBV infection were (19.31 ± 2.72) s, (15.93 ± 1.96) s and (40.43 ± 5.68) s, respectively, which were significantly longer than those of the control group [(16.65 ± 2.10) s, (13.46 ± 1.72) s, (37.15 ± 5.14) s; t = 7.010, 8.577, 3.877; all P = 0.001]. The level of FIB was also significantly lower than that of the control group [(1.17 ± 0.19) g/L vs. (1.53 ± 0.21) g/L; t = 11.511, P = 0.001], and the level of D-D dimer was significantly higher than that of the control group [(0.76 ± 0.11) mg/L vs. (0.16 ± 0.06) mg/L; t = 43.362, P < 0.001]. Compared with the control group, PLT level decreased significantly [(105.32 ± 13.54) × 109/L vs. (177.47 ± 14.27) × 109/L; t = 33.213, P < 0.001), but the levels of PDW and MPV were significantly higher than those of the control group [(30.43 ± 2.89) fL vs. (18.92 ± 3.14) fL; t = 24.423, P < 0.001. (35.13 ± 2.79) fL vs. (24.53 ± 2.36) fL; t = 26.267, P < 0.001)]. The levels of IgM [(3.68 ± 0.91) g/L], IgG [(7.75 ± 2.73) g/L] and IgA [(5.83 ± 1.46) g/L] in children with EBV infection were significantly higher than those of control group [(1.25 ± 0.28) g/L, (5.23 ± 2.16) g/L and (4.35 ± 1.18) g/L] (t = 23.112, 6.555, 7.139; all P = 0.001). The levels of complement C3 and C4 [(0.63 ± 0.26) g/L and (0.43 ± 0.18) g/L] were significantly lower than those of the control group [(1.25 ± 0.25) g/L and (0.65 ± 0.21) g/L] (t = 15.565, 7.203; both P = 0.001). Compared with the control group, the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes [(18.24 ± 4.40)% vs. (24.87 ± 5.61)%] decreased significantly, but the number of CD8+ T cells [(62.83 ± 7.21)% vs. (46.34 ± 6.45)%] of children with EBV infection increased significantly, with significant difference (t = 8.421, 15.435; both P = 0.001). Conclusions EBV infection could lead to coagulation dysfunction and imbalance of immune function of children, which should cause attention in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Key words: Epstein-Barr virus; Children; Coagulation function; Immunological function