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Altered peripheral helper T cells in peripheral blood and muscle tissue of the patients with dermatomyositis

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Abstract

Peripheral helper T (Tph) cells, phenotypically PD-1hiCXCR5-CD4+, are a recently identified Th cell subset that relates to several autoimmune diseases. Contrary to PD-1hiCXCR5+CD4+ follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, Tph cells are not located in lymphoid organs but accumulate in inflamed tissues. This study investigated Tph cells to determine their involvement in dermatomyositis (DM). The frequency of circulating Tph and Tfh cells was evaluated by flow cytometry at baseline and after glucocorticoid treatment. The expression of Tph and B cells was determined in muscle tissue by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Further, the correlations between circulating Tph cells and clinical characteristics were investigated. Flow cytometry revealed that circulating Tph and Tfh cells were decreased in peripheral blood of DM patients compared with healthy controls (HCs). However, the muscular expression of Tph and B cells was upregulated in patients with DM compared to that in the controls by IHC. Interestingly, the increased B cells accumulated around Tph cells in infiltrated lesions. The frequency of circulating Tph cells was positively correlated with Tfh cells, CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells, whereas negatively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10 levels. Furthermore, the abnormal circulating Tph cells in peripheral blood were recovered after glucocorticoid treatment. These results indicate that Tph cells might be involved in the immunopathogenesis of DM and therefore might provide novel insight for the development of DM therapies.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Chunshu Yang for the excellent technical assistance, and the donors for kindly accepting their essential collaboration.

Funding

This work was supported by the following grants: foundation from Clinical Medical Research Center of Shenyang, Liaoning, China (18009-4-03 to Pingting Yang), foundation from the Major Social Development Projects of Liaoning, China (No. 2020JH1/1030002 to Pingting Yang), foundation from the Program of the Distinguished Professor of Liaoning Province, Rheumatology (28020 to Pingting Yang).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoyu Hou, Meiyi Lin, Bailing Tian, Shan Zhao, Xudong Liu & Pingting Yang

  2. Department of 1St Cancer Institute, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, People’s Republic of China

    Chunshu Yang

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  1. Xiaoyu Hou
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  2. Chunshu Yang
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  4. Bailing Tian
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  5. Shan Zhao
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  7. Pingting Yang
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Contributions

PY designed the experiments. XH performed the major experiments, analyzed the data and prepared the manuscript. CY performed the experiments and revised the manuscript. ML, BT, SZ and XL performed the experiments. All authors read and approved the manuscript prior to submission.

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Correspondence to Pingting Yang.

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All authors gave their consent for this paper publication.

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All patients enrolled gave their consent to be included in the study.

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This study was approved by the ethics committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University (No. 2018-214-3).

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Hou, X., Yang, C., Lin, M. et al. Altered peripheral helper T cells in peripheral blood and muscle tissue of the patients with dermatomyositis. Clin Exp Med 21, 655–661 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-021-00713-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-021-00713-z

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