Objective To study the possible role of cytokines interleukin-1beta(IL-1?),interleukin-6(IL-6),interleukin-8(IL-8),tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-?)and granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor(GM-CSF)in the pathogenesis of vitiligo.Methods The serum levels of IL-?,IL-6,IL-8,TNF-?,and GM-CSF were measured in50patients with vitiligo and20healthy volunteers with radioimmunoassay.Results The serum level of IL-6and GM-CSF in focal type and generalized type of vitiligo,and the serum level of IL-1?in generalized type were significantly higher than those in normal controls.In segmental type of vitiligo,the serum levels of all the cytokines tested were not significantly different from those in normal controls.The GM-CSF levels in focal type and generalized type,and the IL-6level in generalized type of the progressive stage were significantly higher than those in the stable stage.Conclusion IL-6and GM-CSF may be involved in the autoimmune mechanism of non-segmental type of vitiligo.

Objective To study the relationship between nitric oxide(NO)and some cytokines and the pathogenesis of vitiligo.Methods Nitric acid reductase assay and ELISA were used to determine the serum levels of NO,and IFN-?,IL-10and IL-12in32patients with vitiligo,compared with18normal controls.The levels of these molecules in suction blister fluids,including involved skin and uninvolved skin from20patients,were also determined.Results The serum levels of NO and IFN-?in vitiligo patients were significantly higher than those in controls,and the serum level of IL-10in the patients was significantly lower than that in controls.The serum level of IFN-?in generalized type of vitiligo and the serum level of NO in localized type of vitiligo in active stage were higher than those in stable stage.The NO level in suction blister fluid of localized vitiligo of involved skin was significantly higher than that of uninvolved skin.Conclusion These findings suggest that NO,IFN-?and IL-10might be involved in the pathogenesis of vitiligo.

Objective:This work aims to assess the distribution of peripheral blood monocyte subsets, the expression level of the functional markers in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, and analyze the correlation between the above indexes and the onset of RA.Methods:Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected and isolated from 62 RA patients, 52 healthy control (HC) and 12 disease control group′s patients via density centrifugation. The enrolled patients were attended or underwent physical examination in East Hospital, Tongji University from June 2020 to December 2021. Monocytes could be classified into classical (CM), intermediate (IM) and non-classical (NCM). Then, the flow cytometry was performed to examine the distribution of monocyte subsets and the measure the expression level of human leukocyte antigen DR (HLA-DR), intracellular tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in peripheral blood monocytes. The statistical methods in this study mainly include: Kruskal-Wallis H test, Chi-Square test, Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed ranks test, Spearman correlation coefficient test and Logistic regression analysis. The diagnostic value of IM proportion in RA was analyzed by ROC curve. Results:The monocytes number and monocytes proportion in white blood cells were much higher in RA [0.40 (0.40, 0.50), 7.60% (5.97%, 8.53%)] and disease control [0.40 (0.40, 0.68), 8.20% (5.85%, 10.28%)] compared with HC [0.30 (0.30, 0.40), 5.80% (5.03%, 6.38%)] ( H=24.733, P<0.001; H=27.469, P<0.001). A statistic-significant difference was detected among the proportion of CM[85.49%(76.91%,89.21%),88.94%(86.36%,91.72%),90.26%(80.25%, 92.56%)],IM[11.65%(8.47%,17.89%),7.89%(5.36%,10.75%), 5.56%(4.17%, 8.27%)], NCM[2.22%(1.39%, 3.74%), 2.49%(1.74%, 4.66%), 5.13%(3.39%, 9.85%)] in RA group, HC group and disease control group ( H=11.389, P=0.003; H=20.815, P<0.001; H=10.640, P=0.005). The proportion of CM was lower in RA and the IM proportion was increased in RA( P=0.003; P=0.003). The intracellular TNF-α level of monocytes in all three groups revealed the trend that IM>NCM>CM. The intracellular TNF-α in IM of RA was positively associated with serum TNF-α ( r=0.376, P=0.041). The HLA-DR expression in IM subsets were higher than CM and NCM subsets in all RA,HC and disease control groups. The expression of HLA-DR of IM in RA group and disease control was higher than HC group [8 611.50 (6201.3, 9890.8), 10 295.0 (7 899.0, 13632.0), 6 278.00(4 057.8, 9522.0), H=10.495, P=0.005]. There were no correlations between the proportion of peripheral blood IM and clinical characteristics CRP ( r=0.119, P=0.359), RF ( r=0.204, P=0.112) and ESR ( r=0.153, P=0.236). Logistic regression analysis showed that the proportion of IM ( OR=1.169, 95% CI 1.003-1.363, P=0.046), CRP ( OR=1.277, 95% CI 1.000-1.631, P=0.050), RF ( OR=1.179, 95% CI 1.080-1.287, P<0.001) are positively correlated with RA onset. The area under ROC curve for diagnosis of RA with IM proportion was 0.687, and the 95% confidence interval was 0.590-0.784, P<0.001. Conclusions:The distribution of monocyte subsets in peripheral blood of RA patients is abnormal. The increase in the proportion of IM, the enhanced antigen-presenting ability, and the increased level of TNF-α secretion in RA patients may play an important role in the pathogenesis of RA.