Early rheumatoid arthritis is associated with diminished numbers of TH1 cells in stimulated peripheral blood.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with an altered TH1/TH2 balance. Here we present first results with a technique to quantitate stimulated TH1 and TH2 subsets in whole blood by means of cytofluorimetric detection of intracytoplasmic TH1 and TH2 cytokines. A group of 10 patients suffering from initial stages of RA exhibited a significantly reduced percentage of TH1 cells (11.0 +/- 2.0%) in the peripheral blood as compared to 13 healthy, age matched controls (28.8 +/- 2.0%). The TH2 response, as determined by intracellular expression of IL-4, remained unchanged. The data may indicate a defect in the TH0-TH1 differentiation or/and a selective trapping of TH1 cells into the affected joints.
Department of Laboratory Medicine (Blocklabor III), University of Graz, School of Medicine, Austria. harald.mangge@kfunigraz.ac.at
H
H
Mangge
P
P
Felsner
J
J
Herrmann
Y
Y
el-Shabrawi
P
P
Liebmann
K
K
Schauenstein
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors
D017252:CD3 Complex