scholarly journals The role of Th17 lymphocytes in pathogenesis of autoimmune arthritides

2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-58
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Pogoda ◽  
Maria Pyszniak ◽  
Magdalena Bańka ◽  
Beata Rybojad ◽  
Jacek Tabarkiewicz

Abstract Th17 cells are newly described population of lymphoctyes, that recruits neutrophils to the site of inflammation and activate inflammatory phenotype of various tissues. They also play a pivotal role in autoimmune diseases and cancers. These cells secrete mainly different isoforms of IL-17, but also IL-21 and IL-22. Rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis are the most common autoimmune joints’ inflammatory disease, affecting respectively adults and children. For a long time the immunopathogenesis of autoimmune diseases has been associated with Th1 lymphocytes. This hypothesis has changed after the discovery of Th17 cells, which are thought to be key mediators of autoimmune arthritides

Arthritis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Wiegering ◽  
H. J. Girschick ◽  
H. Morbach

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is the most common cause of chronic arthritis in childhood and adolescents and encompasses a heterogeneous group of different diseases. Due to the promising results of B-cell depleting therapies in rheumatoid arthritis the role of B-cells in autoimmune diseases has to be discussed in a new context. Additionally, experiments in mouse models have shed new light on the antibody-independent role of B-cells in the development of autoimmune diseases. In this review we will discuss the importance of B-cells in the pathogenesis of JIA appraising the question for an immunological basis of B-cell targeted therapy in JIA.


Author(s):  
Tiit Nikopensius ◽  
Priit Niibo ◽  
Toomas Haller ◽  
Triin Jagomägi ◽  
Ülle Voog-Oras ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic rheumatic condition of childhood. Genetic association studies have revealed several JIA susceptibility loci with the strongest effect size observed in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region. Genome-wide association studies have augmented the number of JIA-associated loci, particularly for non-HLA genes. The aim of this study was to identify new associations at non-HLA loci predisposing to the risk of JIA development in Estonian patients. Methods We performed genome-wide association analyses in an entire JIA case–control sample (All-JIA) and in a case–control sample for oligoarticular JIA, the most prevalent JIA subtype. The entire cohort was genotyped using the Illumina HumanOmniExpress BeadChip arrays. After imputation, 16,583,468 variants were analyzed in 263 cases and 6956 controls. Results We demonstrated nominal evidence of association for 12 novel non-HLA loci not previously implicated in JIA predisposition. We replicated known JIA associations in CLEC16A and VCTN1 regions in the oligoarticular JIA sample. The strongest associations in the All-JIA analysis were identified at PRKG1 (P = 2,54 × 10−6), LTBP1 (P = 9,45 × 10−6), and ELMO1 (P = 1,05 × 10−5). In the oligoarticular JIA analysis, the strongest associations were identified at NFIA (P = 5,05 × 10−6), LTBP1 (P = 9,95 × 10−6), MX1 (P = 1,65 × 10−5), and CD200R1 (P = 2,59 × 10−5). Conclusion This study increases the number of known JIA risk loci and provides additional evidence for the existence of overlapping genetic risk loci between JIA and other autoimmune diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis. The reported loci are involved in molecular pathways of immunological relevance and likely represent genomic regions that confer susceptibility to JIA in Estonian patients. Key Points• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common childhood rheumatic disease with heterogeneous presentation and genetic predisposition.• Present genome-wide association study for Estonian JIA patients is first of its kind in Northern and Northeastern Europe.• The results of the present study increase the knowledge about JIA risk loci replicating some previously described associations, so adding weight to their relevance and describing novel loci.• The study provides additional evidence for the existence of overlapping genetic risk loci between JIA and other autoimmune diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Luca Mascaretti ◽  
Elena Bevilacqua

Association between HLA-DR4 and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been known for 4 decades, and amino acid sites within HLA-DRB1 (11/13, 71, 74) are highly associated with RA. HLA is not useful for diagnosis or prognosis, but it may help predict severe and erosive disease. Since 90% of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 50-70% of other spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients are HLA-B*27 positive, HLA is a stronghold of diagnostic algorithms. Genetic predisposition to juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is mainly due to HLA class II, and to a lesser extent to HLA class I. Although HLA plays a role in rheumatic disorders, its clinical relevance is not homogeneous. When classical biomarkers are lacking or in complex cases, HLA typing may provide support for the management of patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amira Gabsi ◽  
Xavier Heim ◽  
Akram Dlala ◽  
Asma Gati ◽  
Haifa Sakhri ◽  
...  

AbstractSystemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by vascular damage, excessive fibrosis and abnormal T cells immune-regulation. CD146 is an adhesion molecule essentially expressed in the vascular system, but also on TH17 lymphocytes. In view of the recently described role of CD146 in SSc, we hypothesized an involvement of CD146 positive TH17 cells in this disease. Compared to healthy controls, we showed that both soluble form of CD146 (sCD146), and IL17A levels were increased in patients with SSc with a positive correlation between both factors. A significant increase in TH17 cells attested by an increase of RORγT, IL17A mRNA and CD4+ IL17A+ cell was observed in patients with SSc. Interestingly, the percentage of TH17 cells expressing CD146 was higher in patients with SSc and inversely correlated with pulmonary fibrosis. In vitro experiments showed an augmentation of the percentage of TH17 cells expressing CD146 after cell treatment with sCD146, suggesting that, in patients the increase of this sub-population could be the consequence of the sCD146 increase in serum. In conclusion, TH17 cells expressing CD146 could represent a new component of the adaptive immune response, opening the way for the generation of new tools for the management of SSc.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 2968-2968
Author(s):  
Florent Malard ◽  
Céline Bossard ◽  
Jessy Arbez ◽  
Patrice Chevallier ◽  
Thierry Guillaume ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 2968 Background. Acute GVHD after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) is an exaggerated immune response against alloantigens involving dysregulation of inflammatory cytokine cascades. Previous studies established an important role of Th1 cells in acute GVHD pathophysiology. However, the identification of proinflammatory Th17 cells which contribute to autoimmune diseases pathophysiology, raised the issue of the role of Th17 cells in human acute GVHD. Indeed, the contribution of Th17 cells in acute GVHD was assessed in GVHD mouse models with conflicting results. In addition, the role of the PDC subset (the professional type I IFN-secreting cells), which play an important role in triggering Th17-related cytokines and autoimmune diseases, is not yet established in the acute GVHD setting. This report investigated the role of Th17 cells and their interaction with PDC in gastrointestinal (GI) biopsies taken from patients with or without acute GVHD. Patients and Methods. Studies described in this report were performed in a single centre series of 21 patients who underwent allo-SCT for different hematological malignancies (n=19) and severe aplastic anemia (n=2). The median age of patients was 53 years (range, 16–69). The stem cell source was PBSCs in 19 cases (85%), CB in 2 cases and BM in one case. Ten patients received transplant from a matched-related donor, and 11 patients from a matched-unrelated donor. A reduced-intensity conditioning regimen was used in the majority of cases (n=19; 90%) Immunohistochemistry was performed on deparaffinized tissues sections using an indirect immunoperoxydase method. A quantitative evaluation of antigens expression was performed by counting the number of positive cells in the whole biopsy at 200 magnifications for each sample. Results. In this cohort, based on standard pathology criteria, 16 patients had a histologically proven gastrointestinal acute GVHD. In all cases, biopsies were taken before initiation of systemic corticosteroid therapy. The remaining 5 patients did not have histological signs of acute GVHD (and did not develop clinical signs of acute GVHD) and thus, were used as controls. In order to identify the Th17 cell population, biopsies were tested for expression of the CD161 and CCR6 markers, and ROR-gamma-t, the key transcription factor that orchestrates the differentiation of Th17 cells. Significantly higher numbers of ROR-gamma-t+ and CD161+ cells were counted in the intestinal mucosa of patients with acute GVHD compared with intestinal mucosa of patients without acute GVHD, mainly found in the lamina propria but also in the epithelium of altered glands (p=0.016 and p=0.009 for ROR-gamma-t and CD161 expression respectively). Given the role of PDCs in triggering Th17-related cytokines, we sought next to determine the proportion of PDCs in intestinal biopsies from these same patients. This analysis showed a significant increase of CD123+ PDCs in the intestinal mucosa of patients with acute GVHD compared with mucosa of patients without acute GVHD (p=0.017). Moreover, we observed a significant correlation between the number of CD123+ PDCs and ROR-gamma-t or CD161 expressing cells in the intestinal mucosa of acute GVHD patients, highlighting the link between PDC and Th17 cells. Conclusion. The current study shed some light on the role of Th17 cells in the context of gastro-intestinal acute GVHD. Using well-established specific markers, we show that Th17 cells infiltrate intestinal biopsies from patients with acute GVHD. In addition, Th17 infiltration was paralleled by the infiltration of PDCs, suggesting a potential new pathophysiological link between PDCs and Th17 response in the context of gastro-intestinal acute GVHD. This is consistent with studies showing that PDCs can drive the differentiation of Th17 cells. Functional analyses are currently ongoing. Although the exact mechanism that links type I IFN production to PDC-mediated Th17 responses is still unclear in acute GVHD, these data raise the prospect of future innovative approaches to optimize immunosuppression regimens for the treatment or prophylaxis of acute GVHD by targeting PDCs and the Th17 response. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Saggini ◽  
Sergio Chimenti ◽  
Andrea Chiricozzi

Psoriasis vulgaris (PV) is a cutaneous inflammatory disorder stemming from abnormal, persistent activation of the interleukin- (IL-)23/Th17 axis. Pustular psoriasis (PP) is a clinicopathological variant of psoriasis, histopathologically defined by the predominance of intraepidermal collections of neutrophils. Although PP pathogenesis is thought to largely follow that of (PV), recent evidences point to a more central role for IL-1, IL-36, and IL-6 in the development of PP. We review the role of IL-6 in the pathogenesis of PV and PP, focusing on its cross-talk with cytokines of the IL-23/Th17 axis. Clinical inhibitors of IL-6 signaling, including tocilizumab, have shown significant effectiveness in the treatment of several inflammatory rheumatic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis; accordingly, anti-IL-6 agents may potentially represent future promising therapies for the treatment of PP.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mie Oki ◽  
Norihiko Watanabe ◽  
Takayoshi Owada ◽  
Yoshihiro Oya ◽  
Kei Ikeda ◽  
...  

Inhibitory coreceptors are thought to play important roles in maintaining immunological homeostasis, and a defect in the negative signals from inhibitory coreceptors may lead to the development of autoimmune diseases. We have recently identified B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA), a new inhibitory coreceptor expressed on immune cells, and we suggest that BTLA may be involved in the development of autoimmune diseases using BTLA-deficient mice. However, the role of BTLA in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases in humans remains unknown. We, therefore, examined the possible association between BTLA and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and Sjögren's syndrome (SS) by conducting a case-control genetic association study. We found that 590C single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of BTLA gene was significantly associated with susceptibility to RA, but not to SLE or SS. Furthermore, RA patients bearing this 590C SNP developed the disease significantly earlier than the patients without this allele. We also found that BTLA with 590C allele lacked the inhibitory activity on concanavalin A- and anti-CD3 Ab-induced IL-2 production in Jurkat T cells. These results suggest that BTLA is an RA-susceptibility gene and is involved in the protection from autoimmunity in humans.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Jiang ◽  
Guocan Yang ◽  
Qi Liu ◽  
Shengjun Wang ◽  
Dawei Cui

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic and heterogeneous autoimmune disease with symmetrical polyarthritis as its critical clinical manifestation. The basic cause of autoimmune diseases is the loss of tolerance to self or harmless antigens. The loss or functional deficiency of key immune cells, regulatory T (Treg) cells, has been confirmed in human autoimmune diseases. The pathogenesis of RA is complex, and the dysfunction of Tregs is one of the proposed mechanisms underlying the breakdown of self-tolerance leading to the progression of RA. Treg cells are a vital component of peripheral immune tolerance, and the transcription factor Foxp3 plays a major immunosuppressive role. Clinical treatment for RA mainly utilizes drugs to alleviate the progression of disease and relieve disease activity, and the ideal treatment strategy should be to re-induce self-tolerance before obvious tissue injury. Treg cells are one of the ideal options. This review will introduce the classification, mechanism of action, and characteristics of Treg cells in RA, which provides insights into clinical RA treatment.


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