Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, PR China.
School of Material Science and Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, Gansu, PR China.
Int Immunopharmacol. 2019 Apr;69:257-262. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2019.01.039. Epub 2019 Feb 8.
Skin lesions are typical clinical manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the biomarker for predicting SLE skin injury is not clear. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study with aim to explore the predictive value of the ratio of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in T helper 17 (Th17) cells to AhR in regulatory T (Treg) cells (AhR ratio) in SLE skin lesions. The clinical and laboratory data were obtained from their medical records, and the AhR relative expression levels were evaluated by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Flow cytometry was applied to determine the proportion of AhR-overexpressing cells in Th17 and Treg cells. Pearson's correlation and logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between AhR ratio risk of skin lesions. Results showed that the expression level of AhR in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was increased >3-fold in patients with SLE compared with that in healthy controls. Compared with control group, the percentage of AhR-overexpressing cells to Th17 cells was statistically higher in patients with SLE, whereas no significant difference was observed in the percentage of AhR-overexpressing cells to Treg cells between patients with SLE and control group. AhR ratio was also higher in SLE, and it was negatively correlated with complement 3 while positively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate. In addition, compared with the low-AhR ratio group, more younger SLE patients with skin lesions, ultraviolet allergies and lower C3 levels were observed in the high-AhR ratio group, implicating that AhR ratio may be a potential biomarker for predicting SLE skin injury.
皮肤损伤是系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）的典型临床表现，目前尚不清楚预测 SLE 皮肤损伤的生物标志物。本研究采用医院为基础的病例对照研究，旨在探讨辅助性 T 细胞 17（Th17）细胞中芳香烃受体（AhR）与调节性 T（Treg）细胞中 AhR 比值（AhR 比值）对预测 SLE 皮肤损伤的价值。从病历中获取临床和实验室数据，并通过逆转录-定量聚合酶链反应评估 AhR 相对表达水平。采用流式细胞术测定 Th17 和 Treg 细胞中 AhR 过表达细胞的比例。采用 Pearson 相关和 logistic 回归分析评估 AhR 比值与皮肤损伤风险之间的关系。结果显示，与健康对照组相比，SLE 患者外周血单个核细胞中 AhR 的表达水平增加了>3 倍。与对照组相比，SLE 患者 AhR 过表达细胞在 Th17 细胞中的比例明显更高，而 AhR 过表达细胞在 Treg 细胞中的比例在 SLE 患者与对照组之间无显著差异。SLE 患者 AhR 比值也较高，与补体 3 呈负相关，与红细胞沉降率呈正相关。此外，与低 AhR 比值组相比，高 AhR 比值组中 SLE 患者更年轻、有皮肤损伤、紫外线过敏和更低的 C3 水平，提示 AhR 比值可能是预测 SLE 皮肤损伤的潜在生物标志物。
