Blood CD8 + T lymphocyte activation measurement
/CD38
Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) was resuspended in PBS containing 0.5% BSA and stained with commercially available antibodies (CD8-FITC, CD38-PE, CD3-PerCPCy5, HLADR-APC, all from BD Biosciences) and analyzed by flow cytometry using a FACSCalibur flow cytometer (BD Biosciences). After gating the lymphocyte population in the FSC/SSC-plot, the following cell populations were defined: T-cells (CD3 +), CD8 + T-cells (CD3 + /CD8 +) and activated CD8 + T cells (CD3 + /CD8 + /CD38 + /HLADR +). PBMC were collected at baseline (week 0) and week 24 and stained with anti-CD3/CD8 to define CD8 + T cells and counterstained with anti-CD38/HLADR to detect the frequency of activated CD8 + T cells.