Expressions of CD3 and CD4 T Cells in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy and Their Clinical Significance

Abstract

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is a primary glomerulonephritis characterized by abnormal immune response-mediated deposition of polymeric IgA (pIgA) in mesangium. As a type of important immune cells, the relationship of CD3 or CD4 with the pathogenesis of IgAN remains poorly understood. In this study, 38 patients with IgAN, 7 patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (MN) and 46 healthy adults without history of kidney disease were enrolled. Peripheral blood was collected for further evaluation of the expressions of CD3 and CD4 and IgA by flow cytometry, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blot. Meanwhile, the expression of IgA was detected by ELISA. The result showed that expression of CD3 T cells was down-regulated in patients with IgAN, while amounts of CD4 T cells and IgA level were significantly increased compared to normal control (P < 0.05). However, no signficant changes in CD3, CD4 T cells were found in patients with MN. Our study demonstrates that CD3 and CD4 T cells as well as IgA are involved in the pathogenesis of IgAN and these targets might be beneficial for the treatment of IgAN.