Department of Internal Medicine A, Bnai Zion Medical Center and Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
Cell Immunol. 2010;261(2):77-80. doi: 10.1016/j.cellimm.2009.12.009. Epub 2010 Jan 4.
The role and function of T regulatory (Treg) cells have not been fully investigated in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).
Ten patients with SSc donated 20ml of peripheral blood. Activity (Valentini) and severity (Medsger) scores for SSc were calculated for all patients. Healthy volunteers (controls) were matched to each patient by gender and age. CD4(+) cells were separated using the MACS system. The numbers of Treg cells were estimated by flow cytometry after staining for CD4, CD25, and FoxP3 and calculated as patient-to-control ratio separately for each experiment. Correlations with activity and severity indices of the disease were performed. Twenty-four-hour production of TGF-beta and IL-10 by activated CD4(+) cells was measured by ELISA in culture supernatants.
The numbers of Treg cells, expressed as patient-to-control ratio, correlated significantly with both activity and severity indices (r=0.71, p=0.034 and r=0.67, p=0.044, respectively). ELISA-measured production of TGF-beta and IL-10 by CD4(+) cells was similar in patients and controls.
Increased numbers of Treg cells are present in patients with SSc, correlating with activity and severity of the disease. This expansion of Treg cells was not accompanied, however, by heightened TGF-beta or IL-10 production. Further studies to elaborate the causes and functional significance of Treg cell expansion in SSc are needed.
调节性 T 细胞（Treg）在系统性硬化症（SSc）患者中的作用和功能尚未得到充分研究。
10 名 SSc 患者捐献了 20ml 外周血。为所有患者计算了 SSc 的活动（Valentini）和严重程度（Medsger）评分。根据性别和年龄与每位患者相匹配的健康志愿者（对照组）。使用 MACS 系统分离 CD4+细胞。通过流式细胞术对 CD4、CD25 和 FoxP3 进行染色后，估计 Treg 细胞的数量，并分别计算每个实验的患者与对照的比值。进行与疾病活动和严重程度指数的相关性分析。通过 ELISA 在培养上清液中测量激活的 CD4+细胞 24 小时产生的 TGF-β和 IL-10。
以患者与对照的比值表示的 Treg 细胞数量与活动和严重程度指数显著相关（r=0.71，p=0.034 和 r=0.67，p=0.044）。ELISA 测量的 CD4+细胞产生的 TGF-β和 IL-10在患者和对照组之间相似。
SSc 患者存在数量增加的 Treg 细胞，与疾病的活动和严重程度相关。然而，这种 Treg 细胞的扩增并没有伴随着 TGF-β或 IL-10 的产生增加。需要进一步研究以阐述 SSc 中 Treg 细胞扩增的原因和功能意义。
