dsDNA-, nucleohistone- and DNASE I-reactive T lymphocytes in patients affected by systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation with clinical disease activity
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...
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Published in | Clinical and experimental rheumatology Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 543 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Italy
01.09.1996
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get more information |
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Summary: | 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. |
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ISSN: | 0392-856X |