Relationship between Co-expression Levels of ICOS and CD28 on Peripheral Blood CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells and Behcet’s Disease / 华中科技大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the relationship between the co‐expression levels of inducible costimulatory molecule (ICOS)and CD28 on peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and Behcet’s disease(BD).Methods Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression levels of ICOS and CD28 on peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of BD patients(n=22) ,including those with active BD(ABD ,n= 14)and stable BD(SBD ,n= 8) ,and of normal subjects(n= 22).Results The proportion of CD28+ ICOS+ CD4+ T cells was significantly increased in ABD patients when compared with normal subjects [(34.72 ± 12.87)% vs.(25.36 ± 8.24)% ,P0.05]between the two groups.The proportions of CD28-ICOS+ CD4+ T cells and CD28-ICOS+CD8+ T cells were both obviously increased in ABD patients when compared with those in normal subjects[(2.54 ± 1.63)% vs.(0.76 ± 0.25)% for CD28- ICOS+ CD4+ T cells ,P< 0.05;(8.79 ± 3.41)% vs.(3.04 ± 1.25)% for CD28-ICOS+CD8+ T cells ,P<0.05].Conclusion The increased expression level of ICOS on peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells is not closely associated with the expression of CD28 to some extent in BD patients ,suggesting that cells expressing only ICOS play an important role in the development of BD.