Abstract
Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells are recently characterized subset of helper T cells, which are initially found in the germinal centers of B cell follicles. The major role of Tfh cells is helping B cell activation and antibody production during humoral immunity. Recently, blood Tfh cells were shown to be associated with autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, bullous pemphigoid and psoriasis. There is only one study which investigated Tfh cells in psoriasis patients. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated and analyzed blood Tfh cells in Korean patients with psoriasis. A total of 28 psoriasis patients and 16 healthy controls were enrolled. The frequency and absolute number of CXCR5+PD-1+ Tfh cells were decreased in patients with psoriasis compared to healthy controls. CD4+CXCR5+ T cells and CXCR5+ICOS+ Tfh cells did not show differences. The frequency and absolute number of CXCR5+PD-1+ Tfh cells in psoriasis patients negatively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate and positively correlated with disease duration. The absolute number of CXCR5+ICOS+ Tfh cells also showed positive correlation with disease duration. However, the subpopulations of Tfh cells did not correlate with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index. Serum interleukin-21 level was significantly increased in psoriasis patients compared to healthy controls, however, its level did not correlate with clinical and experimental parameters of psoriasis patients. These findings suggest the decreased function of Tfh cells in psoriasis, which could result in attenuated B cell immune responses in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. However, further investigations are necessary to confirm the function of Tfh cells in psoriasis vulgaris.
Abbreviations
- ASO:
-
Anti-streptolysin O
- BCL-6:
-
B-cell lymphoma 6 protein
- BP:
-
Bullous pemphigoid
- BSA:
-
Body surface area
- CCR:
-
CC chemokine receptors
- CD:
-
Cluster of differentiation
- CRP:
-
C-reactive protein
- CXCR5:
-
C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5
- ESR:
-
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
- ICOS:
-
Inducible T cell costimulator
- IMIDs:
-
Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases
- IL-21:
-
Interleukin-21
- JDM:
-
Juvenile dermatomyositis
- PASI:
-
Psoriasis Area and Severity Index
- PBMC:
-
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells
- PD-1:
-
Programmed cell death protein 1
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
- SLE:
-
Systemic lupus erythematosus
- SS:
-
Sjögren’s syndrome
- TFH:
-
Follicular helper T cell
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant of the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Grant No. HI12C1672).
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D. Shin and D. Suk Kim contributed equally to this work.
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Shin, D., Kim, D.S., Kim, S.H. et al. Decreased PD-1 positive blood follicular helper T cells in patients with psoriasis. Arch Dermatol Res 308, 593–599 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-016-1679-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-016-1679-y