dsDNA-, nucleohistone- and DNASE I-reactive T lymphocytes in patients affected by systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation with clinical disease activity

• Published in: Clinical and experimental rheumatology Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 543
• Main Authors: Filaci, G, Grasso, I, Contini, P, Imro, M A, Lanza, L, Scudeletti, M, Rossi, E, Puppo, F, Damasio, E, Indiveri, F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Italy 01.09.1996
• Subjects: Adult; Autoimmune Diseases - etiology; Autoimmunity; Cell Division; Cell Line; Clone Cells; Deoxyribonucleases - immunology; Disease Progression; DNA - immunology; Female; Flow Cytometry; Histones - immunology; Humans; Immunity, Cellular; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - immunology; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - drug therapy; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - etiology; Middle Aged; T-Lymphocytes - immunology
• ISSN: 0392-856X

To demonstrate the involvement of T lymphocytes reactive to autoantigens in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and to analyse their clinical relevance. The frequency of T cell clones reactive to double strand DNA (dsDNA), Nucleohistone (NH) complex and Dnase I was calculated for the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 15 SLE patients and 9 healthy subjects by proliferation assay. DsDNA- and NH-specific T cell clones were found in the majority of the patients analysed (frequency ranging from 2 to 50 clones/10(7) PBMC), while their absence or very low frequency (2 clones/10(7) PBMC) was observed in the control PBMC. Their frequency significantly correlated with decreased serum concentrations of C3 and C4 and with the systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (P = 0.03). A very low frequency of Dnase I-reactive T cell clones was observed in both SLE and healthy subjects. Our results suggest that dsDNA- and NH-reactive T lymphocytes may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE and that their quantification in the peripheral blood of patients could be a useful tool to follow the clinical course of the disease.