Figure 2From: Targeting the programmed cell death 1: programmed cell death ligand 1 pathway reverses T cell exhaustion in patients with sepsisMarkers of immune exhaustion increase with protracted sepsis. Flow cytometry revealed an increase in expression of immune exhaustion markers over time in the ICU. A) Monocyte PD-L1 expression was increased in septic patients compared to critically-ill non-septic patients (CINS) patients. In contrast to changes in programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression on CD8 T cells during sepsis, there was no change in the expression of PD-L1 during the septic time period. B) Comparison of monocyte PD-L1 expression and human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) expression did not show any correlation in patients with sepsis. (C) PD-1 expression increased as PD-L1 expression decreased on CD8 T cells in samples from septic patients over the course of their sepsis, that is, time points A (days 1 to 3), B (days 4 to 7), C (days 8 to 12) and D (days 13 to 21). CD8 T cell PD-1 expression was higher in septic versus critically-ill non-septic patients (CINS). CD8 T cell expression of PD-L1 fell to very low levels at time point D in septic patients compared to CINS patients and at time points A-C in septic patients. P-values in 2A and 2C are comparison of septic samples with CINS for each draw.Back to article page