Zhao Man, Duan Xiu-Hong, Wu Zhen-Zhen, Gao Cong-Cong, Wang Na, Zheng Zhao-Hui
Department of Rheumatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou UniversityNo.1 Jianshe Road, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, People's Republic of China.
Am J Clin Exp Immunol. 2017 Jun 15;6(4):43-51. eCollection 2017.
We aimed to investigate whether vitamin D levels affect the expression of autophagy related genes (Atgs) and the counts of T-cell subsets in active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), as well as to assess the association between Atgs and T-cell subsets. Serum levels of 25(OH)D3, Atgs and T-cell subsets were measured in 50 patients with active SLE. Serum 25(OH)D3 levels <10 ng/ml and 10-30 ng/ml were defined as severe vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D insufficiency, respectively. Comparisons were made between values of severe vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D insufficiency patients, and the correlations between Atgs in PBMCs and T-cell subsets were carried out. mTOR mRNA levels were higher (=0.036) and LC3 mRNA levels were lower (<0.001) in severe vitamin D deficiency group compared to vitamin D insufficiency group. The counts of CD4+ T cells and the CD4/CD8 ratio were significantly higher in severe vitamin D deficiency group compared to vitamin D insufficiency group (=0.001, <0.001,respectively). LC3 mRNA levels correlated negatively with CD4+ T cells counts (r=-0.302, =0.033), while correlated positively with CD8+ T cells counts (r=0.299, =0.035). Serum 25(OH)D3 levels correlated negatively with the counts of CD4+ T cells (r=-0.423, =0.002) and correlated positively with the counts of CD8+ T cells (r=0.318, =0.024). Our results suggested that severe vitamin D deficiency affected the expression of Atgs in PBMCs and T-cell subsets in active SLE, indicating that vitamin D may affect T-cell subsets via regulating autophagy.
我们旨在研究维生素D水平是否影响活动性系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）中自噬相关基因（Atgs）的表达及T细胞亚群计数，并评估Atgs与T细胞亚群之间的关联。对50例活动性SLE患者测定血清25(OH)D3、Atgs及T细胞亚群水平。血清25(OH)D3水平<10 ng/ml和10 - 30 ng/ml分别定义为严重维生素D缺乏和维生素D不足。比较严重维生素D缺乏和维生素D不足患者的值，并对PBMCs中Atgs与T细胞亚群之间的相关性进行分析。与维生素D不足组相比，严重维生素D缺乏组mTOR mRNA水平较高（=0.036），LC3 mRNA水平较低（<0.001）。与维生素D不足组相比，严重维生素D缺乏组CD4 + T细胞计数及CD4/CD8比值显著更高（分别为=0.001，<0.001）。LC3 mRNA水平与CD4 + T细胞计数呈负相关（r = -0.302，=0.033），而与CD8 + T细胞计数呈正相关（r = 0.299，=0.035）。血清25(OH)D3水平与CD4 + T细胞计数呈负相关（r = -0.423，=0.002），与CD8 + T细胞计数呈正相关（r = 0.318，=0.024）。我们的结果表明，严重维生素D缺乏影响活动性SLE患者PBMCs中Atgs的表达及T细胞亚群，提示维生素D可能通过调节自噬影响T细胞亚群。
