English abstract
Objectives: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a heterogeneous disorder
characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia and increased susceptibility to recurrent
infections. Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases
to find eligible studies from the earliest available date to January 2018 with standard
keywords. Pooled estimates of the infection prevalence and the corresponding 95%
confidence intervals were calculated using random-effects models. Results: We
found that pneumonia (67.7%) was the most prevalent infection followed by upper
respiratory tract (59.0%) and gastrointestinal infections (36.3%). Furthermore, bacterial
complications (41.7%) were higher in CVID patients compared to viral (25.4%),
parasitic (18.8%), or fungal (3.4%) infections. Patients with longer age at diagnosis
presented with fewer disease comorbidities. There was an inverse correlation between
T lymphocyte count and viral infections. Moreover, we found that immunoglobulin
M (IgM) serum level was inversely correlated with hepatitis C and gastrointestinal
infections, and IgG serum level was inversely correlated with infectious arthritis. Higher
numbers of CD4 and CD8 T cells were associated with the lower frequencies of otitis
media. CVID patients with infections had significantly lower percentages of CD3 T cells.
In contrast, higher percentages of CD19 lymphocytes were found in CVID patients who
had a history of infections. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that in addition to
hypogammaglobulinemia, patients with CVID have an imbalance in the frequency of T
lymphocytes, which is in parallel with the higher frequency of infectious complications.
