title: gamma delta-Lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis--correlation with clinical and laboratory parameters of the disease and with the treatment used.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, autoimmune disease in the pathogenesis of which T-lymphocytes are believed to play a crucial role. The aim of this work was to investigate a subpopulation of gamma delta-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with RA in the context of chosen parameters of the disease. Moreover, we studied the influence of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) on the number of gamma delta-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with RA. The gamma delta-lymphocytes were studied using monoclonal anti-delta 1 antibodies labelled with fluorescein (Becton Dickinson) then counted under a fluorescence microscope (Olympus). We found a significant increase in the number of gamma delta-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with RA as compared with normal controls. The highest numbers were observed in patients with RA and extraarticular manifestation of the disease. Treatment with DMARDs led to a gradual normalisation of the elevated values of gamma delta-lymphocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Internal Diseases, Medical Academy of Białystok, Białystok, Poland.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kowal-Bielecka
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mróz
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bernacka
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kowal
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sierakowski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000378:metabolism; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta