title: Expression of activation markers on CD4+ and CD8+ cells from synovial fluid, synovial tissue, and peripheral blood of patients with inflammatory arthritides.
abstract: We studied the expression of the Tac antigen, the transferrin receptor (Tfr-R), HLA class II antigens (DR, DQ, DP), CD30, and Act 1 on purified CD4+ and CD8+ cells isolated from synovial fluid (SF), synovial tissue (ST), and peripheral blood (PB) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and with non-RA inflammatory arthritides (not ST). Subfractionated T cells of PB from healthy individuals served as controls. SF CD4+ cells from RA and non-RA arthritides expressed the Tac antigen much more frequently than corresponding CD8+ cells (54 and 58% versus 16 and 17%). In contrast, SF CD8+ cells of both patient groups expressed the HLA class II antigens rather more frequently than the corresponding CD4+ cells (88 and 68% versus 72 and 40%). Tfr-R expression was low on CD4+ and CD8+ SF T cells from both patient groups. SF T cells did not express CD30, and their expression of Act 1 did not differ from that of normal PB T cells. The RA ST findings were similar to those of RA SF. The overall expression of activation markers on PB T cells of patients was slightly higher than on those of normal controls, and the RA group was slightly higher than the non-RA group. The results show that intra-articular T cells in arthritis are activated and that CD4+ and CD8+ subsets differ in their expression of Tac antigen and HLA class II antigens. There were also similar patterns of activation markers on both CD4+ and CD8+ SF cells from RA and non-RA arthritis patients, suggesting that several types of arthritis display a similar immunopathogenesis in the joints.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology and Rheumatology, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hovdenes
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gaudernack
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Kvien
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Egeland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000032:analysis; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000032:analysis*; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D001168:Arthritis / Q000276:immunology*; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D005260:Female; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin / Q000032:analysis; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000276:immunology*; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin