Guo Ronghong, Gao Jinfang, Yang Yanli, Xu Ke
Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Taiyuan, China.
Department of Rheumatology, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
Front Immunol. 2025 Feb 19;16:1530909. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1530909. eCollection 2025.
To investigate alterations in blood lipid profiles and T cell subsets among systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, and to assess their potential utility in predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
105 SSc patients and 80 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Flow cytometry was employed to quantify T cell subsets. Multivariate logistic regression analysis investigated the association between blood lipid profile, T cell subsets, SSc occurrence, and CVD risk. Additionally, a prediction model was developed to assess the potential predictive value of CVD risk.
In the SSc patients, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (OR = 3.212, 95%CI = 1.132-9.113, = 0.028), ESR (OR = 1.218, 95%CI = 1.086-1.367, = 0.001), CRP (OR = 2.156, 95% CI = 1.393-3.338, = 0.001), T helper (Th)cells (OR = 1.004, 95% CI = 1.001-1.008, = 0.034) were positively correlated with the risk of SSc. Further studies found that absolute increases in Th cells in SSc patients were positively associated with the risk of CVD (OR=1.002, 95%CI=1.001-1.005, =0.011) and were independent predictors of CVD risk in SSc. When Th cells exceeded 866.53 cells/μL, the risk of CVD in SSc patients was greatly increased (<0.001).
Altered lipid profiles and dysregulated Th cell expression in SSc patients, with a significant elevation of Th cells specifically noted in SSc-CVD patients, suggesting that Th cells may serve as a potential predictive biomarker for CVD in SSc patients, thereby aiding in early diagnosis. The underlying mechanism of this association requires further investigation.
研究系统性硬化症（SSc）患者的血脂谱和T细胞亚群变化，并评估其在预测心血管疾病（CVD）风险方面的潜在效用。
纳入105例SSc患者和80例年龄及性别匹配的健康对照（HCs）。采用流式细胞术定量T细胞亚群。多因素逻辑回归分析研究血脂谱、T细胞亚群、SSc发生与CVD风险之间的关联。此外，建立了一个预测模型来评估CVD风险的潜在预测价值。
在SSc患者中，低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）（OR = 3.212，95%CI = 1.132 - 9.113，P = 0.028）、红细胞沉降率（ESR）（OR = 1.218，95%CI = 1.086 - 1.367，P = 0.001）、C反应蛋白（CRP）（OR = 2.156，95%CI = 1.393 - 3.338，P = 0.001）、辅助性T（Th）细胞（OR = 1.004，95%CI = 1.001 - 1.008，P = 0.034）与SSc风险呈正相关。进一步研究发现，SSc患者Th细胞的绝对增加与CVD风险呈正相关（OR = 1.002, 95%CI = 1.001 - 1.005，P = 0.011），并且是SSc患者CVD风险的独立预测因素。当Th细胞超过866.53个/μL时，SSc患者的CVD风险大幅增加（P < 0.001）。
SSc患者血脂谱改变和Th细胞表达失调，特别是在SSc - CVD患者中Th细胞显著升高，提示Th细胞可能作为SSc患者CVD的潜在预测生物标志物，从而有助于早期诊断。这种关联的潜在机制需要进一步研究。
