Simultaneous Quantification of T-Cell Receptor Excision Circles (TRECs) and K-Deleting Recombination Excision Circles (KRECs) by Real-time PCR. -

Background: The clinical experience gathered throughout the years endorses primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) awareness and guides research into newborn screening and future therapeutic strategies.Combined T-cell receptor excision circle levels (TRECs) and kappa-deleting recombination excision circles (KRECs) assay paves the way to new potential applications in this field. Objectives: We aimed to establish a technique for quantification of TRECs and KRECs in Egyptian individuals in our laboratory and to set a lower threshold of normal for TRECs and KRECs in pediatric population for different age groups as a start for its implementation in newborn screening protocols for PIDs. Methods: 50 apparently healthy children (25 males and 25 females) with age ranging from 1 day to 16 years were analyzed..Combined quantification of TRECs and KRECs in the genomic DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells was performed using real-time quantitative PCR. Results: Individuals in the study were divided in to 5 different age groups Data regarding lower threshold of normal for TRECs and KRECs copies per ml of blood among the study group was obtained. A highly significant negative correlation between TRECs and KRECs, both calculated per 106 PBMCs and per ml of blood and age was observed. On the contrary, there was no statistically significant differences in the studied parameters between males and females when evaluated regardless of age (p value=0.697). Conclusion: It appeared that it is technically feasible to introduce the TRECs/KRECs quantitation by real time PCR into routine laboratory practice to be used in the near future both for new born screening for PIDs - See more at: