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Dermatomyositis (DM) represents a multifaceted chronic inflammatory myopathy, primarily manifesting as progressive deterioration of muscular and cutaneous tissues. Despite an incomplete comprehension of DM's etiology and pathogenesis, current evidence implicates the involvement of T lymphocyte infiltration, extensive cytokine release, myositis-specific antibodies, and myositis-associated antibodies in disease development. Serum soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) frequently serves as a marker for T cell activation; however, its role remains elusive. Consequently, this investigation sought to elucidate the association between sIL-2R levels, peripheral blood lymphocyte subset counts, and related cytokines in DM patients, with the aim of uncovering the intricate mechanisms underlying DM and establishing a theoretical foundation for the implementation of precise, targeted, individualized immunomodulatory therapy. In this study, a cohort of 60 dermatomyositis (DM) patients, comprising 32 with inactive DM and 28 with active DM, was enrolled and stratified into inactive and active groups based on the Myositis Disease Activity Visual Analogue Scale (MYOACT). Flow cytometry was employed to quantify the absolute counts of peripheral lymphocyte subsets and CD4+T cell subsets in each group, while a flow cytometry bead array was utilized to measure serum cytokine levels. In a comparative analysis between healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with DM, we observed a marked elevation in serum sIL-2R concentrations (P < 0.001) and T-helper 17 cell/regulatory T cell (Th17/Treg) ratios (P < 0.01) within the latter group. A positive correlation was identified between serum sIL-2R levels and various parameters, including ESR, CRP, VAS, AST, CKMB, LDH, HBDH, PT, APTT, DDi, IL-6, IL-10, and IFN-γlevels (P < 0.05). In contrast, serum sIL-2R levels demonstrated a negative correlation with LY, HGB, ALB, Th17 cell populations, and Th17/Treg cell ratios (P < 0.05). Employing multivariate logistic regression, we identified serum sIL-2R concentrations as an independent risk factor for both disease activity and hepatic involvement in DM patients. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses revealed that serum sIL-2R levels significantly contributed to the differentiation of disease activity and the detection of liver involvement in DM patients, with areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.757 (95% CI 0.630–0.884, P = 0.001) and 0.826 (95% CI 0.717–0.935, P < 0.001), respectively. This study highlights the potential utility of serum sIL-2R levels as a valuable biomarker for assessing disease activity and liver involvement in dermatomyositis. Elevated serum concentrations of sIL-2R were observed in patients with DM, exhibiting significant associations with Th17 cell populations and Th17/ Treg ratios. These findings indicate that sIL-2R may be implicated in the immunopathogenesis of DM, thereby warranting further investigation to elucidate its role in the disease process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) carry an increased burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but features denoting the development of CVD in AS are unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the percentage and absolute number of lymphocytes and CD4+T cells in AS patients complicated with CVD (AS-CVD) and determine whether circulating T helper 17 (Th17) cells are associated with the development of CVD in AS. Method A total of 117 AS patients (46 had CVD and 71 had no CVD) were enrolled in this retrospective study. The percentage and absolute number of lymphocytes and CD4+T cells were determined by flow cytometry. Associations between CVD and clinical markers were analysed using logistic regression. Results The ratio of Th17/Treg cells (0.30 vs 0.19, P   =  0.014) and the absolute number of Th17 cells (7.27 cells/μL vs 4.34 cells/μL, P   <  0.001) was significantly elevated in AS-CVD group compared with AS-no-CVD group. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that elevated Th17 cells (OR = 1.20, P   =  0.016) were associated with CVD complications in AS. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed a contribution of Th17 cell for distinguishing AS patients with CVD, with the areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) of 0.729 (95% CI: 0.632, 0.825, P   <  0.001). Conclusion Our findings provide evidence for the association between Th17 cells and increased cardiovascular risk in AS. Th17 cells may contribute to accelerated atherogenesis and increased cardiovascular burden in AS and be valuable for early assessment and management of AS-CVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify lymphocyte and CD4 + T cell subset characteristics, particularly regulatory T cells (Tregs), in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: A total of 54 RA patients with CAD (RA-CAD group), 43 RA patients without CAD (pure RA group), and 43 healthy controls (HC group) were enrolled. The absolute number and frequency of lymphocyte subpopulations and CD4 + T cell subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry. Serum levels of cytokines were analyzed using a cytometric bead array. Clinical and laboratory data were collected retrospectively and their correlation with CD4 + T subsets were analyzed. Results: There was a significant decrease in the absolute number of Treg cells (CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + T cells) in the RA-CAD group compared to the pure RA group (p < 0.001). Similarly, both the absolute number (p = 0.001) and frequency (p = 0.011) of Tregs in the RA-CAD group were decreased compared to the HCs, causing a Th17/Treg imbalance (p = 0.044). No difference was found in the absolute number and frequency of Treg cells between the pure RA and HC groups. However, the absolute Th17 cell count was increased in the pure RA group (p = 0.032). The serum level of cytokine IL-17 was lower in the RA-CAD group than in the pure RA group (p = 0.023). In the RA-CAD group, the Treg number was negatively correlated with the RA disease activity score and ESR value, and LDL and ApoB100 levels were negatively correlated with the number of Th17 cells. Conclusions: Active RA patients with CAD sustain more severe immune tolerance damage and Th17/Treg disorder. Monitoring of lymphocyte and CD4 + T cell subsets, particularly Treg cells, is crucial to understanding immune status in this group. Focusing on RA activity and CAD risk control, immune-regulatory therapy based on the Treg level may be more beneficial for RA patients with CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dermatomyositis (DM) is closely associated with infection, the levels of peripheral lymphocyte subpopulations are rarely studied in patients with DM combined with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)/cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Here, we aimed to observe the level of lymphocyte subsets, especially Th17, regulatory T (Treg) cells in DM combined with EBV/CMV viremia, and explore the effects of short-term low-dose IL-2. 34 DM patients combined with EBV/CMV viremia (DM infection group), 31 DM patients without infection (DM non-infection group) and 20 healthy controls were entrolled in our study. In DM infection group, 13 patients received low-dose IL-2 at 0.50 Million IU/day for a five-day course on the basis of conventional treatment. All subjects had completed the decetion of the absolute numbers of lymphocytes subsets in peripheral blood by flow cytometry. The infection group had significant decreases levels of total T, total B, NK, CD4 + T cells and CD4 + T subsets (Th1, Th2, Th17, Treg cells). Compare to the healthy controls, Th17 cells was significantly reduced in the infection group, but not in the non-infection group (P < 0.001 vs. P = 0.171). After low-dose IL-2 therapy, the levels of Treg (P = 0.001) cells and Th17 cells were significantly elevated, re-balancing the Th17 and Treg proportions. The absolute numbers of Th17 and Treg cells in DM patients with EBV/CMV viremia is further reduced. In addition to Treg cells, a decrease in Th17 cells may be also a crucial feature. Low-dose IL-2 treatment may be beneficial and safe prospect immunomodulatory therapy to restores imbalance between Th17 and Treg cells for these patients. Low-dose IL-2 therapy may be a new prospect field with some challenges such as long-term immunoregulatory utility in various virus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The breakdown of immune tolerance mediated by the reduced regulatory T (Treg) cell contributes to autoimmune diseases, which can be recovered by the short-term and low-dose interleukin 2 (IL-2). However, the role of Treg cells in microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and the efficacy of short-term and low-dose IL-2 for MPA remain unclear. Therefore, we performed a retrospective study to explore the role of Treg cells and evaluate the efficacy of short-term and low-dose IL-2 therapy in MPA. 52 MPA were collected as research objects, and 15 of them voluntarily received short-term and low-dose IL-2 subcutaneous injection combined with conventional therapy. 60 volunteers were recruited as health controls (HC) according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The number of circulating CD4 + T cell subsets was detected by flow cytometry. Patients with MPA had reduced circulating Treg cells than HCs (P < 0.001), and the level of Treg cells were reduced in MPA-activity and ANCA-positive group (P = 0.018 and P = 0.008 respectively). The patients with lower Treg cells had the higher incidence of the organ involvement (P = 0.006). The level of Treg cells in MPA was doubled after the short-term and low-dose IL-2 combined with conventional therapy (P = 0.001), and the disease activity indicators such as ESR and CRP were improved (P < 0.05) with no apparent side effects. Patients with MPA had reduced circulating Treg cells, especially the MPA-activity and ANCA-positive patients. And the patients with lower Treg cells were more likely to exhibit the organ involvement. Short-term and low-dose IL-2 therapy increased the reduced Treg cells and promoted the remission of the disease at a certain extent with well tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]