Department of Rheumatology, the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, 030001, China.
Department of Rheumatology, Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, China.
BMC Immunol. 2024 Jul 8;25(1):41. doi: 10.1186/s12865-024-00632-0.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by disturbance of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory lymphocytes. Growing evidence shown that gut microbiota participated in the occurrence and development of SLE by affecting the differentiation and function of intestinal immune cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of gut microbiota in SLE and judge its associations with peripheral T lymphocytes.
A total of 19 SLE patients and 16 HCs were enrolled in this study. Flow cytometry was used to detect the number of peripheral T lymphocyte subsets, and 16 s rRNA was used to detect the relative abundance of gut microbiota. Analyzed the correlation between gut microbiota with SLEDAI, ESR, ds-DNA and complement. SPSS26.0 software was used to analyze the experimental data. Mann-Whitney U test was applied to compare T lymphocyte subsets. Spearman analysis was used for calculating correlation.
Compared with HCs, the proportions of Tregs (P = 0.001), Tfh cells (P = 0.018) and Naïve CD4 + T cells (P = 0.004) significantly decreased in SLE patients, and proportions of Th17 cells (P = 0.020) and γδT cells (P = 0.018) increased in SLE. The diversity of SLE patients were significantly decreased. Addition, there were 11 species of flora were discovered to be distinctly different in SLE group (P < 0.05). In the correlation analysis of SLE, Tregs were positively correlated with Ruminococcus2 (P = 0.042), Th17 cells were positively correlated with Megamonas (P = 0.009), γδT cells were positively correlated with Megamonas (P = 0.003) and Streptococcus (P = 0.004), Tfh cells were positively correlated with Bacteroides (P = 0.040), and Th1 cells were negatively correlated with Bifidobacterium (P = 0.005). As for clinical indicators, the level of Tregs was negatively correlated with ESR (P = 0.031), but not with C3 and C4, and the remaining cells were not significantly correlated with ESR, C3 and C4.
Gut microbiota and T lymphocyte subsets of SLE changed and related to each other, which may break the immune balance and affect the occurrence and development of SLE. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the changes of gut microbiota and provide new ideas for the treatment of SLE.
系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）是一种自身免疫性疾病，其特征是促炎和抗炎淋巴细胞紊乱。越来越多的证据表明，肠道微生物群通过影响肠道免疫细胞的分化和功能，参与 SLE 的发生和发展。本研究旨在探讨 SLE 患者肠道微生物群的变化，并判断其与外周 T 淋巴细胞的关系。
本研究共纳入 19 例 SLE 患者和 16 名健康对照者（HCs）。采用流式细胞术检测外周 T 淋巴细胞亚群，采用 16s rRNA 检测肠道微生物群的相对丰度。分析肠道微生物群与 SLEDAI、ESR、ds-DNA 和补体的相关性。采用 SPSS26.0 软件分析实验数据。采用 Mann-Whitney U 检验比较 T 淋巴细胞亚群。采用 Spearman 分析计算相关性。
与 HCs 相比，SLE 患者中 Tregs（P=0.001）、Tfh 细胞（P=0.018）和 Naive CD4+T 细胞（P=0.004）的比例显著降低，Th17 细胞（P=0.020）和 γδT 细胞（P=0.018）的比例增加。SLE 患者的菌群多样性明显降低。此外，SLE 组有 11 种菌群明显不同（P<0.05）。在 SLE 的相关性分析中，Tregs 与 Ruminococcus2 呈正相关（P=0.042），Th17 细胞与 Megamonas 呈正相关（P=0.009），γδT 细胞与 Megamonas（P=0.003）和 Streptococcus（P=0.004）呈正相关，Tfh 细胞与 Bacteroides 呈正相关（P=0.040），Th1 细胞与双歧杆菌呈负相关（P=0.005）。就临床指标而言，Tregs 水平与 ESR 呈负相关（P=0.031），但与 C3 和 C4 无关，其余细胞与 ESR、C3 和 C4 无显著相关性。
SLE 患者肠道微生物群和 T 淋巴细胞亚群发生变化并相互关联，可能打破免疫平衡，影响 SLE 的发生发展。因此，有必要关注肠道微生物群的变化，为 SLE 的治疗提供新的思路。
