Gui Lian, Luo Xiqing, Zhou Liuzhong, Wei Qiujing, Gu Jieruo
Department of Rheumatology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Int J Rheum Dis. 2023 Oct;26(10):2014-2023. doi: 10.1111/1756-185X.14860. Epub 2023 Aug 27.
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are chronic inflammatory joint diseases, linking to the alterations of immune cells. We attempted to assess whether the alterations in the composition of CD4 /CD8 T cells are different between AS and RA and identify the characteristic cells between male and female patients.
The proportions of CD3 or double positive T cells, 6 CD4 T subsets and 9 CD8 T cell subsets were detected by flow cytometry and compared in 30 healthy individuals, 42 AS patients and 45 RA patients. The differentially altered cells were individually analyzed for associations with disease activity parameters. In addition, their proportions were compared between different genders in the 3 groups.
The proportions of CD4 T cells, naive CD4 T cells and central memory CD4 T cells were lower in AS patients (P = 0.001, P = 0.002 and P = 0.007, respectively) and RA patients (P = 0.032, P < 0.001 and P = 0.016, respectively), but the proportion of effector memory ones was higher when compared with healthy populations (both P < 0.001), as were the decrease of naive/central memory CD8 T cells in AS (P = 0.003 and P = 0.016, respectively) and RA (P < 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively), and the increased tendency of terminally differentiated CD8 T cells. However, these above-mentioned cells, regulatory T (Treg) cells and CD8 T cells with different CD127 expressions between AS and RA were similar in proportion. Furthermore, naive CD4 T cells were positively associated with C-reactive protein (CRP) in AS, whereas CD4 T cells and terminally differentiated CD8 T of RA patients were associated with CRP in RA. The gender-related alterations predominantly displayed the overexpressions of Treg cells and naive CD8 T cells in female patients with AS and RA, respectively.
AS patients and RA patients have some similar peripheral CD4 /CD8 T cell subsets but are distinct from healthy individuals, which may contribute to disease severity. Females are respectively characterized by the up-regulation of Treg cells and naive CD8 T cells in AS patients and RA patients. The study offers an in-depth understanding of the role of T cell subsets in the similarities of the disorders and helps us to monitor disease changes and may offer a theoretical basis of developing novel therapies against common targets.
强直性脊柱炎（AS）和类风湿关节炎（RA）是慢性炎症性关节疾病，与免疫细胞的改变有关。我们试图评估AS和RA患者CD4/CD8 T细胞组成的改变是否存在差异，并确定男性和女性患者之间的特征性细胞。
采用流式细胞术检测30名健康个体、42例AS患者和45例RA患者中CD3或双阳性T细胞、6个CD4 T细胞亚群和9个CD8 T细胞亚群的比例，并进行比较。对差异改变的细胞分别分析其与疾病活动参数的相关性。此外，比较了3组不同性别人群中这些细胞的比例。
AS患者（分别为P = 0.001、P = 0.002和P = 0.007）和RA患者（分别为P = 0.032、P < 0.001和P = 0.016）中CD4 T细胞、初始CD4 T细胞和中枢记忆CD4 T细胞的比例较低，但与健康人群相比，效应记忆CD4 T细胞的比例较高（均为P < 0.001），AS（分别为P = 0.003和P = 0.016）和RA（分别为P < 0.001和P = 0.006）患者中初始/中枢记忆CD8 T细胞减少，终末分化CD8 T细胞有增加趋势。然而，AS和RA患者中上述细胞、调节性T（Treg）细胞以及具有不同CD127表达的CD8 T细胞比例相似。此外，AS患者中初始CD4 T细胞与C反应蛋白（CRP）呈正相关，而RA患者中CD4 T细胞和终末分化CD8 T细胞与RA中的CRP相关。性别相关改变主要表现为AS和RA女性患者中Treg细胞和初始CD8 T细胞分别过度表达。
AS患者和RA患者有一些相似的外周CD4/CD8 T细胞亚群，但与健康个体不同，这可能导致疾病严重程度不同。女性AS患者和RA患者分别以Treg细胞和初始CD8 T细胞上调为特征。该研究有助于深入了解T细胞亚群在这些疾病相似性中的作用，有助于监测疾病变化，并可能为开发针对共同靶点的新疗法提供理论基础。
