致病性Th17细胞在类风湿关节炎中的研究进展

Recent advances of pathogenic Th17 cells in rheumatoid arthritis

类风湿关节炎(RA)是一种常见的慢性自身免疫性疾病,其发病机制复杂,至今尚未完全阐明。现有研究显示,T细胞在RA发病中发挥重要作用,各T细胞亚群间存在复杂的制约关系,其调控网络的失衡促进了RA的发生发展。在此过程中,Th17/Treg细胞亚群的失衡对RA发病具有重要的促进作用,其中又以Th17细胞占据优势地位。近期研究发现,Th17细胞具有很强的可塑性,在不同的外界环境刺激下Th17细胞能够进一步分化为具有不同功能和表型的细胞亚群。根据致病效应的不同,Th17细胞可以分为致病性Th17细胞和非致病性Th17细胞。在RA中,主要产生致病效应的是致病性Th17细胞,靶向致病性Th17细胞已成为RA治疗的新趋势。本文主要对致病性Th17细胞在RA中的最新研究进展进行综述。

Rheumatoid arthritis(RA)is a chronic autoimmune disease.The pathogenesis of RA is complex,which has not been fully elucidated.Available data showed that T cells serve an important role in the RA pathogenesis.There are multiple interac‐tions among distinct T cell subsets and the imbalance of T cell regulatory networks could promote RA development.Especially,the Treg/Th17 imbalance may be involved in the pathogenesis of RA.In recent studies,Th17 cells have been described as exhibiting the property of plasticity,which can be differentiated into different cell subsets with distinct functions and phenotypes under different stimuli from external environments.According to the pathogenicity,Th17 cells could be divided into two groups named pathogenic Th17 cells and non-pathogenic Th17 cells.Among these,pathogenic Th17 cells are considered as the major pathogenic factor in RA and targeted pathogenic Th17 cells have emerged as a new trend for the RA treatment.In this review,we will summarize the major recent advances in our understanding of pathogenic Th17 cells in RA.