Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia.
Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics Research Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Tangier, University Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Tetouan, Morocco.
Immunol Res. 2022 Oct;70(5):644-653. doi: 10.1007/s12026-022-09296-7. Epub 2022 Jun 6.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease characterized by T cells imbalance. Indeed, a correlation between levels of Th17 cells and disease activity has been reported. Our work aimed to study the functional association of subpopulations of Th cells and SLE with (lupus nephritis, LN) or without (lupus erythematosus, LE) renal involvement in Tunisian patients through the detection of intracellular cytokines and surface marker expression. The IL23R and RORC mRNA expression levels were evaluated. The level of Th17 and Th1 cells was higher in LE and LN patients compared to healthy controls (HC) (p = 0.007 and p = 0.018, respectively), while Th1/17 cells were increased only in LN patients compared to HC (p = 0.011). However, no significant difference was described in the mRNA expression levels of RORC and IL-23R between SLE and HC. Our findings suggest that the Th1/Th17 differentiation mechanisms are altered in SLE and that this imbalance should have an important influence on the development and severity of the disease.
系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）是一种复杂的自身免疫性疾病，其特征是 T 细胞失衡。事实上，已经报道了 Th17 细胞水平与疾病活动之间的相关性。我们的工作旨在通过检测细胞内细胞因子和表面标记物的表达，研究 Th 细胞亚群和 SLE 在突尼斯患者中的功能关联，这些患者有（狼疮肾炎，LN）或没有（红斑狼疮，LE）肾受累。评估了 IL23R 和 RORC mRNA 表达水平。与健康对照组（HC）相比，LE 和 LN 患者的 Th17 和 Th1 细胞水平更高（p=0.007 和 p=0.018），而仅在 LN 患者中 Th1/17 细胞增加与 HC 相比（p=0.011）。然而，SLE 与 HC 之间 RORC 和 IL-23R 的 mRNA 表达水平没有显著差异。我们的研究结果表明，SLE 中 Th1/Th17 分化机制发生改变，这种失衡应对疾病的发展和严重程度产生重要影响。
