Open AccessT cell receptor (TCR) V gene usage in patients with systemic necrotizing vasculitis
Author(s) -
GISCOMBE R.,
GRUNEWALD J.,
NITYANAND S.,
LEFVERT A. K.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1995.tb08341.x
Subject(s) - t cell receptor , systemic vasculitis , immunology , vasculitis , necrotizing vasculitis , receptor , gene , medicine , t cell , biology , immune system , pathology , disease , genetics
SUMMARY Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) and polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) are systemic necrotizing vasculitides of unknown etiology. These disorders run a fatal course if untreated. T lymphocytes are implicated in the pathogenesis of WG, since they have been found to infiltrate affected organs, and sIL‐2R correlates with disease activity. To elucidate further the role of T cells in necrotizing vasculitis, we have used a panel of 12 TCR V‐specific MoAbs to investigate the number of cells expressing certain Vα and Vβ gene segments in the CD4 + and CD8 + subsets of altogether 11 patients with WG or PAN. In the group of patients, we found abnormal expansions of T cells using particular TCR Vα or β gene products. These T cell expansions were more numerous, of a dramatically higher magnitude, and frequently more often found in the CD4 subset, compared with T cell expansions identified in healthy individuals. In long‐term studies of the T cell expansions for up to 18 months, a heterogeneous pattern was revealed, with no obvious correlation to clinical features such as disease activity or treatment. Studies of TCR V gene usage in this group of patients may help in understanding the pathogenesis of necrotizing vasculitis, and in the identification of unknown antigens, and may open the possibility to a highly selective immunotherapy by targeting disease‐mediating T cells.