Evaluation of clinical and prognostic significance of T cell regulatory subsets in rheumatoid arthritis.
Phenotypic analysis of circulating lymphocytes and T cell subsets using monoclonal antibodies was performed on 60 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A significant lymphopenia was observed in RA patients and correlated with the use of disease suppressant drugs (p less than 0.0001). A significant decrease in the number of suppressor/cytotoxic T cells resulted in an increase in the TH/TS ratio in 40% of RA patients. This elevated ratio did not correlate with disease activity, the presence of extraarticular features, autoantibody production or immune complex formation. We conclude that the evaluation of the TH/TS ratio has no diagnostic or prognostic value.
Reynolds
W J
WJ
Perera
M
M
Yoon
S J
SJ
Klein
M
M
D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000473:pathology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000473:pathology