Imunossenescência em mulheres com câncer de mama expostas a maus tratos na infância

Abstract

Introduction: Individuals who have experienced childhood maltreatment (CM) present a higher sensitive profile to stress. This profile have been associated with dysregulation of the immune system, characterized by reactivation of herpesvirus and increased cellular senescence markers. New traumatic or stressful experiences, such as breast cancer diagnosis, in those sensitized individuals can trigger an increase in stress levels possibly leading to important immunological changes. Here we investigate the presence of immunosenescence markers in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer with and without history of CM. Methods: Twenty-nine women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, without start the treatment, were recruited. Fifteen with history of CM (CM+) and fourteen without history of CM (CM-). Twenty-seven women without breast cancer and CM were selected as the control group. Peripheral blood was assessed by lymphocyte subsets by flow cytometry (B cells, CD4+, CD8+, NK cells, activated T cell, regulatory T cell, early and intermediated T cell, senescent and exhaustion T cells. CMV serology was determinate by ELISA method. Results: The groups CM+ and CM- present similar cancer stage and family history of breast cancer. In peripheral lymphocyte subpopulations we found significantly reduced Early-differentiated T cell (p <0.0001), while intermediate-differentiated T cell (p<0.0001), senescence T cell (p<0.0001) and exhaustion t cells (p<0.0001) were increased in CM+ and CM– patients. The mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) was analyzed and the CD27 expression on CD4 T cells was found lower in controls as compared to CM+ and CM– groups (p = 0.002).There was no difference of CMV IgG levels between CM + and CM– groups (p=0.24), but between controls and CM groups, this association becomes significant (p= 0.008) . Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the presence of CM is not directly related with immunosenescence in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. However, when evaluated women with breast cancer and healthy controls, this senescent profile is evident. Future longitudinal studies are necessary to explore the role of senescent cells in the disease progression and treatment response.