title: The Expression of BTLA Was Increased and the Expression of HVEM and LIGHT Were Decreased in the T Cells of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis [corrected].
abstract: Currently, the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is not clearly understood. The LIGHT/HVEM/BTLA co-signaling pathway may be involved in the pathogenesis of RA, although reports on the expression levels of LIGHT, HVEM and BTLA in T lymphocytes from RA patients are limited.
  
  
  
  In this study, we recruited 30 healthy controls and 21 RA patients. Clinical characteristics were collected for RA patients. The levels of LIGHT, HVEM and BTLA expressed on the surface of circulating T cells of RA patients and healthy controls were measured by flow cytometry.
  
  
  
  The percentages of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes that expressed BTLA from RA patients were all higher than those of the controls (all p < 0.05), while the percentages of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes that expressed HVEM and LIGHT were all lower than those of the controls (all p < 0.05). The rheumatoid factor and the percentage of HVEM+CD4+ T lymphocytes showed a statistically significant negative correlation in RA patients (r = -0.453, p = 0.039), as did the swollen joint count and the percentage of BTLA+CD8+ T lymphocytes (r = -0.501, p = 0.021).
  
  
  
  Here, we provide the first report on the increased expression of BTLA in T lymphocytes and on the decreased expression of HVEM and LIGHT in RA patients. BTLA, HVEM and LIGHT might be involved in the pathogenesis of RA and have the potential to be new clinically useful characteristics of RA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Zhuochun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: West China Medical School, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Junlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Linhui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Xinle
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Yangjuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Lanlan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang