Evidence for Associations Between Th1/Th17 “Hybrid” Phenotype and Altered Lipometabolism in Very Severe Graves Orbitopathy

Purpose The purpose of this article is to investigate the characteristics of Th1-cell and Th17-cell lineages for very severe Graves orbitopathy (GO) development. Methods Flow cytometry was performed with blood samples from GO and Graves disease (GD) patients and healthy controls, to explore effector T-cell phenotypes. Lipidomics was conducted with serum from very severe GO patients before and after glucocorticoid (GC) therapy. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were used to examine orbital-infiltrating Th17 cells or in vitro models of Th17 polarization. Results In GD, Th1 cells predominated in peripheral effector T-cell subsets, whereas in GO, Th17-cell lineage predominated. In moderate-to-severe GO, Th17.1 cells expressed retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor-γt (RORγt) independently and produced interleukin-17A (IL-17A), whereas in very severe GO, Th17.1 cells co-expressed RORγt and Tbet and produced interferon-γ (IFN-γ). Increased IFN-γ–producing Th17.1 cells positively correlated with GO activity and were associated with the development of very severe GO. Additionally, GC therapy inhibited both Th1-cell and Th17-cell lineages and modulated a lipid panel consisting of 79 serum metabolites. However, in GC-resistant, very severe GO, IFN-γ–producing Th17.1 cells remained at a high level, correlating with increased serum triglycerides. Further, retro-orbital tissues from GC-resistant, very severe GO were shown to be infiltrated by CXCR3+ Th17 cells expressing Tbet and STAT4 and rich in triglycerides that promoted Th1 phenotype in Th17 cells in vitro. Conclusions Our findings address the importance of Th17.1 cells in GO pathogenesis, possibly promoting our understanding of the association between Th17-cell plasticity and disease severity of GO.