Résumé
Follicular regulatory T cells (Tfr) have critical functions in inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. The main purpose of the current work was to assess Tfr cell frequency in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Flow cytometry showed that, compared with normal controls, DCM cases showed markedly reduced Tfr cell rates and Tfr/Tfh ratios, but significantly increased follicular helper T cell (Tfh) rates. Correlation analysis showed that the Tfr rate in DCM patients was positively correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and negatively correlated with N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels. Lower Foxp3 and higher Bcl-6, ICOS, and PD-1 mRNA expression levels were found in patients with DCM. In addition, plasma interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and IL-21 levels were significantly increased in DCM cases. Moreover, IgG and IgG3 levels were also elevated in individuals with DCM. Correlation analysis showed that the Tfr rate in DCM patients was negatively correlated with IgG and IgG3, while the Tfh rate was positively correlated with IgG and IgG3. Changes in circulating Tfr levels may have a critical immunomodulatory function in DCM and may become a new therapeutic target for DCM.
Résumé
Associations between “lipid-related” candidate genes,blood lipid concentrations and coronary artery disease (CHD) risk are not clear.We aimed to investigate the effect of three newly identified lipids loci from genome-wide association studies on CHD and blood lipid levels in Chinese Han population.The genotypes of SNPs at three newly identified lipid loci and blood lipids concentrations were examined in 1360 CHD patients and 1360 age- and sex-frequency matched controls from an unrelated Chinese Han population.Allele T of rs16996148 occurred less frequently in CHD patients with the odds ratio (OR) being 0.64 (95％ CI 0.50 to 0.81),after adjusting for conventional risk factors and was associated with a 33％ decreased CHD risk (P＜0.01) comparing with the major allele G.Individuals with GT genotype had the lowest CHD risk.No associations were found between the polymorphisms of other two loci with CHD risk and all three SNPs had no effect on lipid profile in this population.SNP rs16996148 on chromosome 19p13 is significantly associated with lower risk for CHD in Chinese Han population.However,it remains unresolved why these lipid-related loci had significantly less effects than the correspondingly expected effects on blood lipids levels in this population.