Significance of natural killer T like cells in peripheral blood of patients with systemic sclerosis
10.3760/cma.j.cn141217-20220316-00086
- VernacularTitle:自然杀伤T细胞样细胞在系统性硬化病患者中的表达及意义
- Author:
Yan LI
1
;
Xiangbo MA
;
Xinhua ZHOU
;
Yushu WANG
;
Yuan JIA
;
Jing ZHAO
;
Xiaohong XIANG
;
Yun LI
;
Feng SUN
;
Yingni LI
Author Information
1. 北京大学人民医院风湿免疫科，北京 100044
- Keywords:
Scleroderma, systemic;
Lymphocytes;
Blood sedimentation;
Natural killer T-cells
- From:
Chinese Journal of Rheumatology
2023;27(11):728-732
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To study the expression of peripheral blood NKT-like cells in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), to explore the correlation between NKT-like cells and laboratory and clinical indicators of systemic sclerosis, and investigate the role of NKT-like cells in the occurrence and development of Systemic sclerosis.Methods:Forty-six SSc patients (SSc group) were enrolled from Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of Peking University People 's Hospital during December 2018 to December 2019. Thirty healthy subjects with matched age and sex were selected as healthy control group (HC group). The cell count and percentage of NKT-like cells and other lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry. At the same time, other laboratory indexes were determined by different methods. Spearman's correlation analysis, Pearson's correlation analysis, Man-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test were used to analyze the difference and correlation between NKT-like cells and other clinical and laboratory indicators. Results:Compared with HC group [165(72, 226)cells/μl], the cell count of NKT-like cells in peripheral blood of SSc group[30(19, 58)cells/μl] was significantly decreased ( Z=-5.69, P<0.001). Correlation analysis showed that the cell count of NKT-like cells was positively correlated with total T lymphocytes ( r=0.56, P<0.001), CD4 +T cells ( r=0.42, P=0.004), CD8 +T cells ( r=0.60, P<0.001), B cells ( r=0.50, P<0.001) and NK cells ( r=0.33, P=0.024), respectively. The percentage of NKT-like cells in lymphocytes was also positively correlated with the percentage of CD8 +T cells ( r=0.34, P=0.020), but not significantly correlated with other subset of lymphocytes. The ESR of the NKT-like cell decreased group was significantly higher than that of the NKT-like normal group[15(9, 28) mm/1 h vs 8 (4, 16) mm/1 h, Z=-2.04, P=0.042]. Moreover, the cell count of NKT-like cells was negatively correlated with ESR ( r=-0.34, P=0.019). Conclusion:The cell count and percentage of NKT-like cells in peripheral blood of SSc patients decreased significantly. NKT-like cells were not only positively correlated with a variety of lymphocyte subpopulations, but also negatively correlated with ESR. NKT-like cells may be used as an indicator to monitor the disease activity in patients with SSc.
