Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune disorder. Loss of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg balance has been reported in several inflammatory autoimmune diseases. This study was to investigate Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg differentiation and related cytokines in RA patients. The frequencies of Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg cells in peripheral blood of RA patients (n = 76) and healthy controls (n = 18) were determined by flow cytometry. Eight serum cytokines were analyzed using cytometric bead array. The results demonstrated that RA patients exhibited increased peripheral Th1/Th17 cells and Th1/Th17-related cytokines. However, Th1 cells only reached significant difference at advanced stage, but Th17 at all stages, suggesting more important roles in Th17 cells. For Th2 and Treg cells, there was a different function pattern in RA progression. Although with the increase of DAS28 score, Th2 cell experienced some degree of decrease in RA patients, no significant difference was observed. IL-4 and IL-10 showed a significant increase in RA patients. These indicated that Th2 cells might exert immunosuppression effects mainly by secreting cytokines. Treg cells were found significantly decreased in RA patients, but no difference was observed in TGF-β expression, indicating a cell-cell interaction pattern in Treg cell.
Highlights
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic, systemic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder, affecting approximately 1% of the world’s population [1]
There was a significant increase in Th1 (t = 2.251, P = 0.028) and Th17 cells (t = 2.266, P = 0.026) of RA patients when compared with healthy controls, while significant decrease was present in Treg cells of RA patients in comparison with healthy controls (t = 2.316, P = 0.023) (Table 1)
Th2 cells showed a little increase in RA patients, no significant difference was observed (t = 0.349, P = 0.728)
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic, systemic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder, affecting approximately 1% of the world’s population [1] It is characterized by persistent synovitis, pain, swelling, and progressive destruction of the small joints of the hands and feet, accompanied by functional disability [2], typically presenting between the ages of 30 and 50 years [3]. Thelper (Th) cells have been suggested to play a central role in immune protection They do so through their capacity to help B cells make antibodies, to induce macrophages to develop enhanced microbicidal activity, to recruit neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils to sites of infection and inflammation, and, through their production of cytokines and chemokines, to orchestrate the full panoply of immune responses [4,5,6]. Th1 and Th17 cells have a proinflammatory role and have been implicated in many inflammatory conditions in humans and mice [9], while an anti-inflammatory role is attributed to Th2 and Treg cells
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