title: Th2-oriented profile of male offspring T cells present in women with systemic sclerosis and reactive with maternal major histocompatibility complex antigens.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize the cytokine production profile of male-offspring T cells reactive against maternal major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens present in the peripheral blood and/or skin from women with systemic sclerosis (SSc).
  
  
  METHODS
  T cell clones were generated from peripheral blood and/or skin biopsy specimens from 3 women with SSc of recent onset and from peripheral blood from 3 healthy women, all of whom had 1 male child. All clones were screened for their proliferative response in vitro to maternal MHC antigens by measuring (3)H-thymidine uptake and for their expression of Y chromosome by using fluorescence in situ hybridization. The concentrations of interferon-gamma and interleukin-4 (IL-4) released by T cell clones in response to maternal MHC antigens were evaluated in culture supernatants, using appropriate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-nine of 202 T cell clones generated from women with SSc and 11 of 312 from healthy women proliferated in vitro in response to maternal MHC antigens. Seven MHC-reactive T cell clones obtained from women with SSc and 1 obtained from healthy women exhibited the Y chromosome, thus indicating that the clones were derived from T cells of male offspring. All clones generated from male-offspring T cells of SSc women (but not from those of healthy women) produced significantly higher levels of IL-4 in response to stimulation with maternal MHC antigens than did all other clones generated from the same women. The other clones proliferated in response to maternal or allogeneic MHC antigens but did not exhibit the Y chromosome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Male-offspring T cells that are present in the blood and skin of women with SSc and react with maternal MHC antigens exhibit a Th2-oriented profile, supporting the possibility that a chronic graft-versus-host reaction attributable to long-term microchimerism plays a pathogenic role in SSc.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 85, Florence 50134, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scaletti
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vultaggio
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonifacio
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Emmi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Torricelli
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Romagnani
authors.forename: Marie-Pierre
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Piccinni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D002678:Chimera / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000378:metabolism; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D012867:Skin / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D014998:Y Chromosome
chemical_list: D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma