[The role of T helper 17 cells of synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the role of Th17 cells of synovial fluid (SF)in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
RA patients with knee synovial fluid (n = 15) and healthy volunteers (n = 15) were enrolled. The amounts of Th17 cells in peripheral blood and SF were measured by flow cytometry. Since there was no SF in healthy control, only the amounts of Th17 cells in peripheral blood were measured. The correlation between the amounts of SF Th17 cells and clinical inflammatory parameters was evaluated. Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor gammat (RORgammat), interleukin-17 (IL-17) gene expression in lymphocytes were assessed by real-time PCR.


RESULTS
The percentages of Th17 cells in SF from RA patients (1.89 +/- 0.88)% were significantly higher than that in paired PB from RA patients (1.03 +/- 0.57)% and that in PB from healthy controls (0.35 +/- 0.18)%; (2) The frequency of Th17 cells in SF from RA patients correlated positively with serum CRP (r = 0.519, P = 0.047); (3) The mRNA levels of RORgammat and IL-17 were increased in SF lymphocyte population from RA patients compared to paired PB from RA patients and healthy controls (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Increases of Th17 cells in synovial fluid of patients with RA patients might attribute to the difference between local joint inflammation and systemic inflammation, and participates in joint damage.
Department of Rheumatology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Hui
H
Lin
Department of Rheumatology, Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou 646000, China.
Yan-Li
YL
Zhou
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Jian
J
Li
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Yu-Juan
YJ
Li
Department of Rheumatology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Yi
Y
Zhao
Department of Rheumatology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Bing
B
Yan
Department of Rheumatology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Yi
Y
Liu
D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000276:immunology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*