title: Increased ratio of ICOS(+) /PD-1(+) follicular helper T cells positively correlates with the development of human idiopathic membranous nephropathy.
abstract: To identify the frequencies of different subsets of peripheral blood follicular helper T (Tfh) cells in human idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN), 39 patients with new onset IMN and 18 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled for this study. The frequency of Tfh cells in venous blood were measured by flow cytometry, while concentration of serum IL-21 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlation between the clinical features of IMN and Tfh cells was assessed by Spearman's rank correlation test. Overall, the frequencies of total, ICOS(+) , and PD-1(+) Tfh cells were increased in IMN patients, while the ratio of ICOS(+) /PD-1(+) Tfh cells positively correlated with IMN progression. However, the elevated serum IL-21 level in three subgroups of IMN patients, stratified based on 24-h urine protein levels, was not statistically significant compared to HC. Nonetheless, intracellular IL-21 in Tfh cells was generally increased in all IMN patients, and closely correlated with IMN development. Finally, the frequency of IL-21(+) Tfh cells and the ratio of ICOS(+) /PD-1(+) Tfh cells were positively correlated with the estimated 24-h urine protein of IMN patients. The data indicated that Tfh cells contribute to the pathogenicity of IMN. The ratio of ICOS(+) /PD-1(+) Tfh cells and the frequency of IL-21(+) Tfh cells may be indicators for evaluating the IMN development.
authors: Genetic Diagnosis Centre, Central Laboratory, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors: Xu
authors: X
authors: Shi
authors: Department of Nephrology, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors: Zhihui
authors: Z
authors: Qu
authors: Department of Nephrology, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: Genetic Diagnosis Centre, Central Laboratory, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors: Nan
authors: N
authors: Zhang
authors: Genetic Diagnosis Centre, Central Laboratory, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors: Yong
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: Genetic Diagnosis Centre, Central Laboratory, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors: Man
authors: M
authors: Li
authors: Genetic Diagnosis Centre, Central Laboratory, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors: Jinpeng
authors: J
authors: Qiu
authors: Genetic Diagnosis Centre, Central Laboratory, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.|Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China.|Jiangsu Co-innovation Centre for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China.
authors: Yanfang
authors: Y
authors: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D015433:Glomerulonephritis, Membranous / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D060889:Inducible T-Cell Co-Stimulator Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000378:metabolism*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D000098546:Interleukin-21
chemical_list: C556692:ICOS protein, human; D060889:Inducible T-Cell Co-Stimulator Protein; D007378:Interleukins; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor; D000098546:Interleukin-21
keywords: IL-21; Tfh cells; idiopathic membranous nephropathy