Characteristics of peripheral blood CD4 + T lymphocytes and cytokines in patients with mixed connective tissue disease
10.3760/cma.j.cn112309-20240312-00085
- VernacularTitle:混合性结缔组织病患者外周血CD4 ＋T淋巴细胞与细胞因子特征分析
- Author:
Hui WANG
1
;
Rui SU
1
;
Xin ZHANG
1
;
Ronghui SU
1
;
Xiaoyu ZI
1
;
Xueying GU
1
;
Xiaofeng LI
1
;
Caihong WANG
1
Author Information
1. 山西医科大学第二医院风湿免疫科，太原 030001
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Mixed connective tissue disease;
Cytokines;
CD4 + T cell subsets;
Cardiac enzymes;
Myositis
- From:
Chinese Journal of Microbiology and Immunology
2025;45(5):400-406
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To analyze the characteristics of CD4 + T cell subsets and cytokines in patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and the correlation of MCTD disease activity, laboratory data, and clinical symptoms with cytokines. Methods:A total of 48 MCTD patients (including 24 newly diagnosed patients and 24 treated patients) were enrolled from the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from 2018 to 2021. Meanwhile, 49 healthy subjects who underwent physical examination were recruited (healthy control group). The absolute counts of CD4 + T cell subsets in peripheral blood samples were analyzed by flow cytometry. The levels of serum cytokines were detected by flow bead array. Analysis of variance and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the differences between groups. Pearson or Spearman correlation analysis was used for correlation analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze related factors. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to detect the best cut-off value and effectiveness. Results:The absolute counts of Th1 ( P<0.01), Th2 ( P<0.01) and Treg cells ( P<0.01) in the newly diagnosed MCTD patients and the treated MCTD patients were lower than those in the healthy subjects. The levels of cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IFN-γ, and TNF-α) in the two MCTD groups were higher than those in the healthy control group ( P<0.01). Further analysis revealed that the cardiac enzymes in MCTD patients included creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB, aspartate aminotransferase, α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, and lactate dehydrogenase were positively correlated with cytokines ( P<0.05). In addition, it was found that IL-2 was positively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate ( r=0.477, P<0.001), but it was negatively correlated with complement C3 ( r=-0.546, P=0.002) and complement C4 ( r=-0.422, P=0.02). IL-10 was correlated with the myositis symptoms in MCTD patients and the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.745 (95% CI: 0.576-0.915, P<0.05). Conclusions:This study provides insights into the unique immunological characteristics of CD4 + T lymphocyte subsets and cytokines in patients with MCTD, and also reveals a close correlation between cytokines and cardiac enzymes in MCTD patients. IL-2 has been shown to be associated with disease activity in MCTD patients. The level of IL-10 may be related to the occurrence of myositis symptoms in MCTD.
