Difference and its clinical significance of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets between elderly and non-elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the difference of lymphocyte subsets between elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis and non-elderly patients and its clinical significance.Methods:A total of 124 patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from January, 2017 to December, 2019 were enrolled.The patients were divided into elderly group(≥60 years old, 34 cases)and non-elderly group(<60 years old, 90 cases). Rheumatoid arthritis activity(DAS-28)scoring was performed for each patient.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs)were extracted by Ficoll density centrifugation.Lymphocytes were labeled and detected by 18-color flowcytometry with more than 30 fluorescent antibodies.Results:DAS-28 scoring showed that the disease activity score of the elderly group(4.56±1.89)was higher than that of the non-elderly group(3.37±1.49)( t=3.633, P<0.001). Flow cytometry showed that MAIL%T(mucus-associated lymphoid tissue T cell subset)( Z=-2.798, P=0.005), Tn%CD8 T cells(initial CD8 T cells)( Z=-2.179, P=0.029), VD2% T(V&delta;2+ T, γ&delta;T cell subtype)( Z=-2.806, P=0.005), PD1-CD28-%Th( Z=-2.050, P=0.040)and IGM+ D-%B( Z=-2.376, P=0.017)were lower in the elderly group than in the non-elderly group.While, CD45+ CD27+ %CD8 T cells( Z=-3.069, P=0.002), abT%T cell(αβT cells)( Z=-2.103, P=0.035), CD27-CD28+ %T cells( Z=-2.341, P=0.019), ASC%PBMC( Z=-2.341, P=0.019)and ASC%CD19+ ( Z=-2.000, P=0.046)subgroup expression were higher in the elderly group than in the non-elderly group. Conclusions:The disease activity of elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis is significantly higher than that of younger patients.The expressions of abT%T and CD4% abT in effector T cells of elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis are higher than those of younger patients, while the expression of VD2% T is lower.The expression level of CD45RA+ CD27+ %CD8 T with cytotoxic effect is higher; However, the expression level of Tn%CD8 T in naive cells is lower.