Regulatory T Cells and Their Molecular Markers in Peripheral Blood of the Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

作     者：胡绍先 萧文泽 孔芳 柯丹 秦瑞芳 苏敏 Shaoxian HU , Wenze XIAO, Fang KONG , Dan KE , Ruifang QIN , Min SU Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China

作者机构：Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Tongji Hospital Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology 

出 版 物：《Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology(Medical Sciences)》 (华中科技大学学报（医学英德文版）)

年 卷 期：2008年第28卷第5期

页      面：549-552页

核心收录：

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 100201[医学-内科学(含：心血管病、血液病、呼吸系病、消化系病、内分泌与代谢病、肾病、风湿病、传染病)] 10[医学] 

基　　金：a grant from the Natural Sciences Foundation of Hubei  China (No. 2007ABA110) 

主　　题：systemic lupus erythematosus regulatory T cells Foxp3 GITR interleukin-6 

摘      要：CD4＋CD25＋ regulatory T cells （Tregs） and the expression of their molecular markers （GITR, Foxp3） in peripheral blood of the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus （SLE） were investigated in order to reveal the pathogenesis of SLE on the cellular and molecular levels. The level of Tregs in peripheral blood was detected by flow cytometry. The expression levels of GITR and Foxp3 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells （PBMCs） were assayed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. The level of IL-6 in the plasma was measured by ELISA. Comparisons were made among 3 groups： the active SLE group, the inactive SLE group, and normal control group. The level of Tregs in the active SLE group and the inactive SLE group was significantly lower than in the normal control group （P〈0.01）. The level of Tregs in the active group was lower than in the inactive group with the difference being not significant （P〉0.05）. The level of Tregs in SLE patients was significantly negatively correlated with the disease active index in SLE （SLEDAI） （r=-0.81, P〈0.01）. The expression levels of GITR mRNA in PBMCs of the active SLE group and the inactive SLE group were significantly higher than in the normal control group （P〈0.05）, and those of Foxp3 mRNA in SLE patients of both active and inactive SLE groups were significantly lower than in the normal control group （P〈0.05）. There was no significant difference in the expression of GITR and Foxp3 mRNA between the active SLE group and inactive SLE group （P〉0.05）. The plasma levels of IL-6 in both the inactive SLE group and active SLE group were significantly higher than in the normal control group （P〈0.01）. The plasma level of IL-6 in the active SLE group was sig- nificantly increased as compared with that in the inactive SLE group （P〈0.05）, and the plasma level of IL-6 in SLE was significantly positively correlated with SLEDAI scores （r=0.58, P〈0.01） and significantly negatively correlated with the ratio of CD4＋CD25＋ cells/CD