B和T淋巴细胞衰减因子(BTLA)在类风湿关节炎滑膜组织的表达

Expression of the costimulatory molecule BTLA in synovial tissues from rheumatoid arthritis patients

目的:探讨CD28家族共抑制分子B和T淋巴细胞衰减因子在类风湿关节炎(RA)患者滑膜组织内的表达。方法:免疫组化法检测RA患者滑膜组织BTLA的表达;并使用免疫荧光法检测BTLA的细胞定位及分布。结果:免疫组化结果证实,RA患者滑膜组织中有大量的BTLA阳性细胞,形态观察提示这些阳性的细胞主要是淋巴结处的淋巴细胞及巨噬细胞;免疫荧光分析进一步表明这些BTLA+细胞主要为CD3+T细胞及CD68+巨噬细胞,少数CD31+内皮细胞也表达BTLA。此外,对比其他B7家族共刺激分子在滑膜组织中的分布,免疫荧光发现BTLA共表达于B7-H1+,B7-H4+及HVEM+细胞,但不表达于B7-DC+及B7-H3+细胞。结论:关节炎滑膜组织内有大量BTLA阳性细胞,提示BTLA有可能参与并调节了关节炎的病理进程。

AIM： To detect the expression of B and T lymphocyte attenuator （BTLA） antigen in synovial tissues from rheumatoid arthritis （RA） patients. METHODS： The expression and distribution of BTLA antigen was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Moreover, fluorescence doublestaining was used to further identify the cell types expressing BTLA. RESULTS： Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that a great deal of BTLA positive cells were found in RA synovium, and fluorescence double-staining further demonstrated that BTLA positive cells were CD3＋ T cells, CD68＋ macrophages, and occasionally CD31＋ endothelial cells. In contrast to other members of B7 superfamily, the expression of BTLA was also found on B7-H1＋ , BT-H4＋ and HVEM ＋ cells, while it was absence on B7-DC＋ cells as well as B7- H3＋ cells. CONCLUSION： The expression of BTLA has been observed on the surface of several kinds of cells within synovial tissues of RA patients, which indicates this signal might be involved in the regulation of local T cell activation and the pathogenesis of RA.