Department of Experimental Medicine and Biotechnology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Microbes Infect. 2012 Oct;14(12):1111-7. doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2012.07.003. Epub 2012 Jul 14.
Streptococcus pyogenes causes pharyngitis in school age children, which if left untreated causes acute rheumatic fever (ARF) that later progress toward rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The pathogenesis of this disease and its progression as post infectious squeal is not well understood. In this study, percentages of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cells were compared among patients of ARF, RHD and Chronic RHD using flow cytometer. The production of Th1/Th2 cytokines from serum and endothelial cells of damaged and normal heart valves was also analyzed using flow cytometer. Results showed an inverse proportion of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell numbers in ARF and RHD patients. Cytokine assay demonstrated a switch-over from Th1 to Th2 type, as the disease progressed. We observed significantly high IL-6 in ARF patients and high TNF-α in early RHD patients which allowed us to construct a hypothesis, that, during initial infection phase, lot of antibodies are produced (via IL-6) and TNF-α has a role in disease progression and tissue damage during RHD phase.
化脓性链球菌可引起学龄儿童咽炎，如果不治疗，会导致急性风湿热（ARF），进而发展为风湿性心脏病（RHD）。该疾病的发病机制及其作为感染后遗留问题的进展尚不完全清楚。在这项研究中，使用流式细胞仪比较了 ARF、RHD 和慢性 RHD 患者的 CD4(+)和 CD8(+) T 细胞百分比。还使用流式细胞仪分析了受损和正常心脏瓣膜的血清和内皮细胞中 Th1/Th2 细胞因子的产生。结果表明，ARF 和 RHD 患者的 CD4(+)和 CD8(+) T 细胞数量呈反比。细胞因子分析表明，随着疾病的进展，从 Th1 向 Th2 型转变。我们观察到 ARF 患者的 IL-6 水平非常高，早期 RHD 患者的 TNF-α 水平也很高，这使我们提出了一个假设，即在初始感染阶段，会产生大量抗体（通过 IL-6），而 TNF-α 在 RHD 阶段的疾病进展和组织损伤中发挥作用。
