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Decreased natural killer T-like cells correlated to disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus

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Abstract

Objectives

To evaluate the absolute numbers and frequencies of natural killer T-like (NKT-like) cells in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to characterize the possible role of the cells.

Methods

Seventy-nine patients with SLE together with 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Flow cytometric determination of peripheral NKT-like cells was carried out for all participants by detecting the absolute counts (Abs) and percentage (%) of CD3 + CD16 + CD56 + cells. Disease activity index, laboratory parameters, and clinical manifestations were collected. The correlation between the cells and these parameters was analyzed.

Results

SLE patients had, with respect to controls, considerably decreased values of NKT-like cells (P < 0.001 in both absolute number and percentage). The absolute number of NKT-like cells was found to have positive correlations with WBC, RBC, PLT, C3, C4, IgM and negative correlations with the disease duration, SLEDAI-2 K, anti-dsDNA, anti-nucleosome, anti-ribosomal protein, CRP, ESR. Meanwhile, it was found that the percentage values of NKT-like cells decreased in SLE patients with nephritis which was correlated with anti-ribosomal protein and CRP in comparison to SLE patients without nephritis. Moreover, an increase in the NKT-like cell counts was also observed in the patients with a clinical response to the treatment.

Conclusions

The absolute counts and frequencies of NKT-like cells decreased in SLE patients significantly, which correlated to disease activities and could recover to normal after the treatment. The NKT-like cells may play an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE and could be a useful marker in the disease assessment.

Key Points

• The absolute counts and frequencies of NKT-like cells decreased in SLE patients significantly.

• NKT-like cells were related to the disease activities and could restore after the treatment.

• NKT-like cells may be a useful marker in the disease assessment.

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Data Availability

All data and materials in this article are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Research and Development project of Peking University People’s Hospital (RDC2019-01 to Dr. Yingni Li) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82171773 to Dr. Fanlei Hu, 81871281 to Dr. Yuan Jia). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Sumei Tang and Yushu Wang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People’s Hospital & Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135), 11 Xizhimen South St, Beijing, 100044, China

    Sumei Tang, Xiaohong Xiang, Yuan Jia, Fanlei Hu & Yingni Li

  2. Inspection Center, Qingdao University Medical College Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, 264000, China

    Yushu Wang

  3. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Handan First Hospital, Hebei, China

    Xiangbo Ma

  4. Clinical Laboratory, Third Hospital of Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330009, China

    Xinhua Zhou

  5. Clinical Laboratory, First People’s Hospital of Jinzhong, Shanxi, 030600, China

    Yan Li

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  1. Sumei Tang
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Correspondence to Fanlei Hu or Yingni Li.

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Tang, S., Wang, Y., Ma, X. et al. Decreased natural killer T-like cells correlated to disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus. Clin Rheumatol 42, 1435–1442 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-022-06494-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-022-06494-4

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