Department of Gastroenterology, Turkiye Yuksek Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital, Kızılay Sok. No: 2, 06100, Sıhhıye, Ankara, Turkey.
Dig Dis Sci. 2013 May;58(5):1250-5. doi: 10.1007/s10620-012-2511-y. Epub 2013 Jan 10.
Immunopathogenetic features of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in ulcerative colitis (UC) still remains unclear. Peripheral blood CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells have a key role in the induction and maintenance of peripheral self-tolerance and inhibit several organ-specific autoimmune diseases. Therefore, CD4+CD25+ T cells are believed to play an essential role in autoimmune diseases. The aim of the present study is to analyze the role of CD4+CD25+ T cells in the pathogenesis of UC-associated PSC.
This study evaluated the levels of CD4+CD25+ T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 27 UC patients with PSC and 20 UC patients as controls. CD4+CD25+ T cells were isolated from PBMC with a direct immunofluorescence technique, using mice monoclonal antibodies namely FITC-labeled anti-CD4 and PE-labeled anti-CD25. In each patient, CD4+CD25+ T cells percentage in PBMC were studied by flow cytometry, and then the number of CD4+CD25+ T cells were calculated.
Twenty-seven UC patients with PSC and 20 UC patients without PSC as controls were enrolled in the present study. The percentage of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells among PBMC were significantly elevated in UC + PSC patients compared with UC patients without PSC (p = 0.04).
CD4+CD25+ T cells were found to be elevated in UC patients with PSC suggesting a partial role of activated T cell response in the disease pathophysiology. Our findings imply that CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells may play a key role in the immunopathogenesis of UC-associated PSC and may affect the therapeutic management of these diseases.
溃疡性结肠炎（UC）相关原发性硬化性胆管炎（PSC）的免疫发病机制仍不清楚。外周血 CD4+CD25+调节性 T 细胞在诱导和维持外周自身耐受方面发挥着关键作用，并抑制多种器官特异性自身免疫性疾病。因此，CD4+CD25+T 细胞被认为在自身免疫性疾病中发挥着重要作用。本研究旨在分析 CD4+CD25+T 细胞在 UC 相关 PSC 发病机制中的作用。
本研究评估了 27 例 UC 合并 PSC 患者和 20 例 UC 患者对照的外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）中 CD4+CD25+T 细胞的水平。使用小鼠单克隆抗体即 FITC 标记的抗 CD4 和 PE 标记的抗 CD25，通过直接免疫荧光技术从 PBMC 中分离 CD4+CD25+T 细胞。在每个患者中，通过流式细胞术研究 PBMC 中 CD4+CD25+T 细胞的百分比，然后计算 CD4+CD25+T 细胞的数量。
本研究纳入了 27 例 UC 合并 PSC 患者和 20 例 UC 患者对照。与 UC 无 PSC 患者相比，UC+PSC 患者 PBMC 中的 CD4+CD25+调节性 T 细胞百分比显著升高（p=0.04）。
在 UC 合并 PSC 患者中发现 CD4+CD25+T 细胞升高，提示激活的 T 细胞反应在疾病病理生理学中起部分作用。我们的研究结果表明，CD4+CD25+调节性 T 细胞可能在 UC 相关 PSC 的免疫发病机制中发挥关键作用，并可能影响这些疾病的治疗管理。
