Change and Clinical Significance of Peripheral Blood DN Tregs in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus / 现代检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the expression and function of TCRαβ+ CD3+ CD4-CD8-T (Double negative regulatory T cells,DN Tregs) in peripheral blood of Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients,and investigate their function in pathogenesis of SLE.Methods TCRαβ+ CD4-CD8 T cells were quantified as percentage of total CD3+ T cells in peripheral blood from 20 SLE patients and 20 healthy controls by flow cytometry.Used ELISA to test the cytokine levels (IFN-γ,TNF-α,IL-6,IL-17A) in the plasma of SLE patients.And analyzed the relationship between the percentage of DN Tregs and cytokines levels.Results The ratio of DN Tregs in TCRαβ+ T cells was significantly increased in SLE patients compared to healthy donors (t=3.54,P＜0.01).The levels of IFN-γ,TNF-α and IL-6 in plasma of SLE patients were higher than healthy donors (t=2.824,2.085,2.304,P＜0.05).The frequency of DN Tregs was found to correlate with IFN-γ (r=0.52,P=0.02) but not TNF-α (r=0.17,P=0.16) and IL-6 (r=0.47,P=0.49).Conclusion This study reveals frequency of DN Tregs in peripheral blood of SLE patients was higher than healthy controls,the frequency of DN Tregs was also found to correlate with IFN-γ levels,which means that DN Tregs may play an important role in pathogenesis of SLE.