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Increased ILT2+ natural killer T cells correlate with disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus

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Abstract

Objective

Numerous immune cell types, such as B and T lymphocytes, natural killer cells (NK), and NKT cells, are related to the pathogenesis of diseases in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Our goal in this investigation is to examine the phenotype of NK cells and NKT cells alterations in individuals with SLE.

Methods

Typically, 50 SLE patients and 24 age-matched healthy people had their PBMCs obtained. Employing flow cytometry, the phenotype of NK and NKT cells and immunoglobulin-like transcript 2 (ILT2) expressions were identified. ELISA was utilized to evaluate the amounts of interleukin-15 (IL-15) and sHLA-G in the serum.

Results

The frequencies of the circulating NK and NKT cells in individuals with SLE were decreased compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, ILT2 expression was significantly increased in NKT cells, but showed no obvious change in NK cells. Clinical severity and active nephritis were substantially associated with ILT2+ NKT cell frequencies. The correlation study showed that the upregulation of ILT2 expression was related to sHLA-G in plasma but not to IL-15.

Conclusions

ILT2+ NKT cells have a vital function in the immune abnormalities of SLE, which can also supply a viable goal for therapeutic intervention.

Key Points

•ILT2 expression was significantly increased in NKT cells in SLE patients.

•ILT2+ NKT cell frequencies were associated with clinical severity which may be used as an indicator for evaluating disease activity in patients with SLE.

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Data availability

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

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Funding

This study was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Fujian (no. 2022J011004, 2023J011178), Suzhou “Kejiaoxingwei” Youth Science and Technology project (KJXW2020004), and the Medical Innovation Project of Fujian (no. 2022CXB001).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Ning Chen and Yijun Dai contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infectious Diseases, South Branch of Fujian Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China

    Ning Chen

  2. Department of Emergency, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Emergency Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China

    Ning Chen, Jun Ke, Jiuyun Zhang & Qing Yan

  3. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China

    Yijun Dai, Fei Gao, He Lin & Qing Yan

  4. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Affiliated Huaian No.1 People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Huaian, Jiangsu Province, China

    Hui Li

  5. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

    Xianming Long

  6. Department of Pharmacy, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China

    Hong Sun

Authors
  1. Ning Chen
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Contributions

Ning Chen and Yijun Dai conceived and coordinated the study and wrote the paper. Qing Yan, Jun Ke, Jiuyun Zhang, and Hong Sun designed, performed and analyzed the experiments. Hui Li, Xianming Long, Fei Gao, and He Lin carried out the data collection, data analysis, and revised the paper. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hong Sun, Fei Gao or Qing Yan.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the ethics committee of Fujian Provincial Hospital. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Chen, N., Dai, Y., Li, H. et al. Increased ILT2+ natural killer T cells correlate with disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus. Clin Rheumatol 42, 3113–3121 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-023-06750-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-023-06750-1

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