title: Decreased PD-1 positive blood follicular helper T cells in patients with psoriasis.
abstract: Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells are recently characterized subset of helper T cells, which are initially found in the germinal centers of B cell follicles. The major role of Tfh cells is helping B cell activation and antibody production during humoral immunity. Recently, blood Tfh cells were shown to be associated with autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, bullous pemphigoid and psoriasis. There is only one study which investigated Tfh cells in psoriasis patients. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated and analyzed blood Tfh cells in Korean patients with psoriasis. A total of 28 psoriasis patients and 16 healthy controls were enrolled. The frequency and absolute number of CXCR5(+)PD-1(+) Tfh cells were decreased in patients with psoriasis compared to healthy controls. CD4(+)CXCR5(+) T cells and CXCR5(+)ICOS(+) Tfh cells did not show differences. The frequency and absolute number of CXCR5(+)PD-1(+) Tfh cells in psoriasis patients negatively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate and positively correlated with disease duration. The absolute number of CXCR5(+)ICOS(+) Tfh cells also showed positive correlation with disease duration. However, the subpopulations of Tfh cells did not correlate with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index. Serum interleukin-21 level was significantly increased in psoriasis patients compared to healthy controls, however, its level did not correlate with clinical and experimental parameters of psoriasis patients. These findings suggest the decreased function of Tfh cells in psoriasis, which could result in attenuated B cell immune responses in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. However, further investigations are necessary to confirm the function of Tfh cells in psoriasis vulgaris.
authors: Department of Dermatology, Severance Hospital, Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, 50-1 Yonsei-Ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
authors: Dongyun
authors: D
authors: Shin
authors: Department of Dermatology, Severance Hospital, Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, 50-1 Yonsei-Ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
authors: Dae Suk
authors: DS
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Dermatology, Severance Hospital, Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, 50-1 Yonsei-Ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
authors: Sung Hee
authors: SH
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Dermatology, Severance Hospital, Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, 50-1 Yonsei-Ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
authors: Jung Hwan
authors: JH
authors: Je
authors: Department of Dermatology, Severance Hospital, Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, 50-1 Yonsei-Ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
authors: Hee Ju
authors: HJ
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Dermatology, Severance Hospital, Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, 50-1 Yonsei-Ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea.
authors: Do
authors: D
authors: Young Kim
authors: Department of Dermatology, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
authors: Soo Min
authors: SM
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Dermatology, Severance Hospital, Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, 50-1 Yonsei-Ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Korea. mglee@yuhs.ac.|Brain Korea 21 Plus Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. mglee@yuhs.ac.
authors: Min-Geol
authors: MG
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D007378:Interleukins / Q000378:metabolism; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000378:metabolism; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000276:immunology*; D054380:Receptors, CXCR5 / Q000378:metabolism; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult; D000098546:Interleukin-21
chemical_list: C095085:CXCR5 protein, human; D007378:Interleukins; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor; D054380:Receptors, CXCR5; D000098546:Interleukin-21
keywords: Follicular helper T cell; Humoral immunity; Psoriasis vulgaris