狼疮性肾炎患者树突细胞B7-H4表达与调节性T淋巴细胞的相关性研究

Correlation between B7-H4 expression in dendritic cells and regulatory T lymphocytes in patients with lupus nephritis

目的 探讨共刺激分子B7-H4在狼疮性肾炎(LN)患者血清树突状细胞(DC)的表达及与调节性T淋巴细胞(CD_(4)^(+)CD_(25)^(+)CD_(127)^(lo) T细胞)的相关性。方法 选择50例确诊的LN患者作为实验组,根据患者的SLE疾病活动指数评估结果分为活动期组(SLE疾病活动指数积分≥10分, 30例)和静止期组(SLE疾病活动指数积分<9分, 20例);另选择45例健康体检者作者健康对照组。采用流式细胞术检测所有研究对象外周血DC中B7-H4表达情况,并作比较;分析活动期组B7-H4表达与CD_(4)^(+)CD_(25)^(+)CD_(127)^(lo) T细胞数量的相关性。结果 活动期组外周血DC中B7-H4表达水平低于健康对照组,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.01);静止期组外周血DC中B7-H4表达水平与健康对照组比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。经Spearman相关性分析,狼疮活动期组B7-H4表达水平与CD_(4)^(+)CD_(25)^(+)CD_(127)^(lo)T细胞数量呈正相关(r=0.611, P<0.05)。结论 B7-H4在活动期LN患者外周血DC中低表达,而且与CD_(4)^(+)CD_(25)^(+)CD_(127)^(lo) T细胞数量呈正相关,可作为狼疮活动性的指标,可能成为LN了解其免疫状态、生物靶点治疗的重要依据。

Objective To discuss the correlation between B7-H4 expression in dendritic cells(DC)and regulatory T lymphocytes(CD_(4)^(+)CD_(25)^(+)CD_(127)^(lo) T cells)in patients with lupus nephritis(LN).Methods A total of 50 patients with confirmed LN were selected as the experimental group,and were divided into active group(SLE disease activity index score≥10 points,30 cases)and static group(SLE disease activity index score<9 points,20 cases)according to the evaluation results of (SLE disease activity index).Another 45 healthy subjects were selected as the healthy control group.Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of B7-H4 in peripheral blood DC of all subjects,and compare them;the correlation between the expression of B7-H4 and the number of CD_(4)^(+)CD_(25)^(+)CD_(127)^(lo) T cells in the active group was analyzed.Results The expression level of B7-H4 in peripheral blood DC of active group was lower than that of healthy control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.01).The expression level of B7-H4 in peripheral blood DC of static group was not statistically significant compared with that of the healthy control group(P>0.05).Spearman correlation analysis showed that the expression level of B7-H4 in active group was positively correlated with the number of CD_(4)^(+)CD_(25)^(+)CD_(127)^(lo) T cells(r=0.611,P<0.05).Conclusion B7-H4 is lowly expressed in peripheral blood DC of patients with active LN,and is positively correlated with the number of CD_(4)^(+)CD_(25)^(+)CD_(127)^(lo) T cells,which can be used as an indicator of lupus activity and may become an important basis for LN to understand its immune status and biologically targeted therapy.