Expression and significance of Th17 cells in peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of Thl7 cells in peripheral blood of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).Methods Thirty-three active RA and 27 stable RA patients and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study.Intracellular flow cytometry detection of TH17 cells in peripheral blood was established.The correlations between Th17 cells and RA disease activity (DAS28 scale) as well as bone erosion were analyzed.Results The expressions of Th17 cells in the patients with RA were significantly higher than those of healthy controls [ ( 1.60 ± 0.51 ) ％ vs (0.81 ± 0.21 ) ％,t =10.30,P ＜ 0.001 ].The Th17 levels in active RA patients were also higher than that of stable RA patients and healthy subjects [ ( 1.94 ±0.38 ) ％ vs ( 1.19 ± 0.27) ％,t =8.85,14.60,P ＜ 0.01 ].And the Th1 7 levels in stable RA patients were also higher than that of healthy subjects (t =5.88,P ＜0.01 ).Active RA patients with bone erosion ( 19 cases) also had higher levels of Th17 cells than those without bone erosion ( 14 cases) [ ( 2.09 ± 0.39 ) ％ vs.( 1.74 ±0.29 ) ％,t =2.83,P ＜ 0.01 ].The expression of Th17 cells was positively correlated with the DAS28 score ( r =0.86,P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusion There is a high expression of Th17 cells in peripheral blood of RA patients,which is related to disease activity and bone erosion.Th17 cells might play an important role in the pathogenesis of RA. Key words: Rheumatoid arthritis; Th17 cells; Flow cytometry