Role of follicular helper T cells in development and progression of liver diseases / 临床肝胆病杂志

Follicular helper T cell (TFH) is a new CD4+ T lymphocyte subset which helps B lymphocytes to produce antibodies and is closely related to the development and progression of liver diseases. This article reviews the detection and differentiation of TFH and related functional molecules, the mechanism of action of TFH in helping B lymphocytes to produce antibodies through producing interleukin-21, as well as the role of TFH in liver diseases such as chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, hepatic failure, and liver transplantation, and points out that TFH may become the new target cell in the treatment of liver diseases.

Th17-related cytokine profiles in plasma of patients with systemic lupus erythemtosus / 中华风湿病学杂志

Objective To analyze the levels of T helper(Th)17-related cytokines interleukin(IL)-17,IL-22,IL-23 and IL-27 in plasma of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE).Methods Plasma IL-17,IL-22,IL-23 and IL-27 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 45SLE patients and 32 healthy controls and their associations with each other,disease activity and clinical features were evaluated.Results Plasma levels of IL-17 and IL-23 were significantly higher in SLE patients than in controls[77.8(25.4～487.6)pg/ml vs 36.4(15.7～338.2)pg/ml;14.7(<7.8～247.5) pg/ml vs <7.8(<7.8～81.7)pg/ml.both P<0.01].with no difference between active and inactive disease.In contrast,IL-22 levels were markedly decreased in SLE patients compared with the controls[77.4(<15.6～559.7)pg/ml vs 378.8(21.8～1154.2)pg/ml,P<0.01]and were lower in active disease than in inactive disease(P<0.01).IL-27 levels tended to be higher in SLE patients compared with controls,but the difference was not significant (P>0.05).A strong and positive correlation was found between IL-17 and IL-23 levels(P<0.01)in SLE patients.IL-22 levels were negatively correlated with SLEDAI score,erythrocyte sedimentation rate and antidsDNA antibody titers(all P<0.01),and positively correlated with C3 levels (P<0.05).Each cytokine levels were not related to specific manifestations and treatments.Conclusion Th17 cytokine response in peripheral blood of patients with SLE is abnormal.and IL-17 and IL-22 appear to play different roles in SLE pathophysiology.IL-23/IL-27 imbalance may contribute to the development of Th17-mediated inflammation in SLE.