Expressions of helper T lymphocytes 22 and interleukin-22 in juvenile idiopathic arthritis and their correlation with levels of inflammatory cytokines / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the proportion of helper T lymphocytes 22(Th22) and levels of interleukin(IL)-22 in peripheral blood of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and analyze their relevance with JIA-related inflammatory cytokines.Methods:A total of 30 children with JIA who received treatment at the Department of Rheumatology, the Affiliated Children′s of Capital Institute of Pediatrics from November 2018 to December 2019 were enrolled as JIA group, and 12 healthy children at the same age were selected as healthy control group.The percen-tage of Th22 cells in peripheral blood was detected using flow cytometry.Concentrations of IL-22, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α), IL-17 and IL-10 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Statistical analysis of the relevance of Th22 cells, IL-22 levels and inflammatory cytokines levels of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-17 and IL-10 in JIA were performed by Pearson test. Results:The proportion of Th22 cells in peripheral blood of patients in JIA group[(0.94±0.26)%] was higher than that of the healthy control group [(0.46±0.29)%], and the difference was statistically significant ( t=2.227, P<0.05). Plasma level of IL-22 of patients in JIA group[(185.2±11.93) ng/L] was significantly higher than that of healthy control group[(114.7±6.29) ng/L], and the difference was statistically significant ( t=3.632, P<0.001). The proportion of Th22 cells and the levels of plasma IL-22 in JIA patients were positively correlated with plasma levels of IL-6 (Th22 r=0.501, IL-22 r=0.573, all P<0.01), IL-17 (Th22 r=0.686, P<0.001; IL-22 r=0.445, P<0.01) and IL-10 (Th22 r=0.609, IL-22 r=0.284, all P<0.001). There was no relationship for Th22 cells and plasma levels of IL-22 with TNF-α. Conclusions:The proportion of Th22 cells and plasma levels of IL-22 significantly increase in peripheral blood of JIA patients and correlated with JIA-related inflammatory cytokines, which may play a potential role in the pathogenesis of JIA disease.