The relation of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells concentration with disease activity and damage index in systemic lupus erythematosus.

INTRODUCTION: Regulatory T cells (Treg) deficits, both quantitative and qualitative, are known to be possible triggers for the development of autoimmune disorders by causing T and B cells dysfunction. The contribution of Treg deficiency in the etiology of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is still being debated. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the percentage of circulating CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells in a cohort of Egyptian SLE patients and to correlate this value with the activity and damage index of these patients. METHODS: 50 female patients with SLE together with an equal number of age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Flow cytometric determination of peripheral Treg cells was carried out for all participants by detecting the percentage of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells to compare cases with the control group. Disease activity was assessed using the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K), while disease damage was assessed using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SLICC/ACR DI). Both indices were correlated with the percentage of CD4+CD25+Foxp3 T regulatory cells. RESULTS: CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells percentage was significantly decreased in patients with SLE as compared to healthy controls. On correlating CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg percentage with SLEDAI-2K, a significantly negative correlation was found. Also, there was a negative significant correlation between CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells percentage and SLICC/ACR DI. On correlating SLEDAI-2K with damage index (SLICC/ACR DI), we found highly significant positive correlation. CONCLUSION: Our study showed impaired production of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in SLE patients, which can play a reciprocal role with some cytokines to affect the activity of the disease and organ damage. CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs cells should be the target to determine the clinical effectiveness of new therapy to modulate Tregs besides the traditional treatments.

Breast imaging in the young: the role of magnetic resonance imaging in breast cancer screening, diagnosis and follow-up.

Diagnosis of breast cancer in young individuals (younger than 40 years old) poses a real challenge to breast radiologists because their breast tissue is often denser than the breast tissue of older women. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) may be particularly helpful in such situations. The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommended breast MRI screening as an adjunct to mammography for: BRCA mutation carriers and their first-degree relatives; women with a lifetime breast cancer risk ≥20% to 25%; women with a history of chest radiation between ages of 10 and 30 years; and women with predisposing genetic syndromes. Currently, breast MRI demonstrates a high sensitivity in the range of 93-100%. As many benign lesions also show enhancement or other atypical features on MRI, the primary weakness of contrast enhanced MRI remains in its low specificity, reported to be in the range of 37-97%. Breast MRI is helpful in demonstrating the true tumor size initially, as well as identifying residual tumor following the completion of neo-adjuvant therapy. In general, sensitivities ranging from 61% to 86% for detecting residual disease have been reported. The absence of enhancement virtually excludes a recurrence and the presence of enhancement is very specific for tumor even in the radiated breast. MRI is also the preferred modality for assessment of the breast after re- constructive surgery. The role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in breast diagnosis will continue to evolve as technology improves and clinical experience with new techniques expands.