Huang Jing, Qin Fei, Lai Xiaomei, Yang Tingting, Yu Jie, Wei Chaoping, Wei Lixia, Li Jianling
Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
Mobile Post-doctoral Stations of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
Heliyon. 2023 Mar 7;9(3):e14357. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14357. eCollection 2023 Mar.
The mechanism behind the higher incidence of aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) in women compared to men is not yet understood. In this study, we utilized single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to investigate the immune cell infiltration and adrenal cell characteristics in APA. Our findings revealed a high presence of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, with macrophages and T lymphocytes being the most prevalent. Comparison of infiltrating cells between males and females showed that female CD8+T cells had stronger cytotoxic and inflammation-related functions, while female myeloid cells had more enrichment in inflammatory pathways. Additionally, we found that female adrenal cells had greater upregulation of immune-related and antigen presentation pathways. Furthermore, our analysis revealed that zona glomerulosa (ZG) cells had a higher capability for aldosterone synthesis. These results provide a deeper understanding of the APA microenvironment in patients of different sexes and offer new insights into the onset of APA.
与男性相比，女性原发性醛固酮增多症腺瘤（APA）发病率更高的背后机制尚不清楚。在本研究中，我们利用单细胞RNA测序（scRNA-seq）来研究APA中的免疫细胞浸润和肾上腺细胞特征。我们的研究结果显示，肿瘤微环境中存在大量免疫细胞，其中巨噬细胞和T淋巴细胞最为普遍。男性和女性浸润细胞的比较表明，女性CD8+T细胞具有更强的细胞毒性和炎症相关功能，而女性髓样细胞在炎症途径中富集更多。此外，我们发现女性肾上腺细胞的免疫相关和抗原呈递途径上调更为明显。此外，我们的分析表明，球状带（ZG）细胞具有更高的醛固酮合成能力。这些结果为深入了解不同性别患者的APA微环境提供了依据，并为APA的发病机制提供了新的见解。
