Guangdong Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Immunol Res. 2021 Apr;69(2):153-161. doi: 10.1007/s12026-021-09182-8. Epub 2021 Feb 24.
Inflammation is known to be involved in the progression of diabetic retinopathy. Follicular helper T cells (Tfh) play critical roles in the differentiation of long-live plasma cells and production of antibodies, whereas circulating CD4CXCR5 T cells may act as a counterpart to measure Tfh cell disorders. In this study, we investigated whether Tfh could be involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) by assessing circulating Tfh cells in peripheral blood. Data showed that serum levels of total IgG and IgA were both significantly increased in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) than with non-PDR. Also, B cell activation and differentiation were both enhanced in T2DM patients with PDR. Little changes were detected in levels of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells. As indicated by elevated serum levels and supernatant from cultured PBMC of IL-21, we found increased circulating Tfh cells in PDR patients with dysregulated subsets. This study suggests the involvement of circulating Tfh cells in DR and, in particular, the pathogenesis of PDR.
炎症被认为参与了糖尿病性视网膜病变的进展。滤泡辅助 T 细胞（Tfh）在长寿浆细胞的分化和抗体的产生中发挥关键作用，而循环 CD4+CXCR5+T 细胞可能作为衡量 Tfh 细胞紊乱的对应物。在这项研究中，我们通过评估外周血中的循环 Tfh 细胞，研究了 Tfh 是否可能参与糖尿病性视网膜病变（DR）的发展。数据显示，与非 PDR 患者相比，增殖性糖尿病性视网膜病变（PDR）的 2 型糖尿病（T2DM）患者的血清总 IgG 和 IgA 水平均显著升高。此外，PDR 的 T2DM 患者的 B 细胞激活和分化均增强。Th1、Th2 和 Th17 细胞水平变化不大。由于血清水平升高和培养 PBMC 的上清液中 IL-21 升高，我们发现 PDR 患者循环 Tfh 细胞亚群失调增加。这项研究表明，循环 Tfh 细胞参与了 DR，特别是 PDR 的发病机制。
