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Multiparameter phenotyping of T‐cell subsets in distinct subgroups of patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis
Author(s) -
Wikén M.,
Grunewald J.,
Eklund A.,
Wahlström J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.625
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1365-2796
pISSN - 0954-6820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2011.02414.x
Subject(s) - foxp3 , il 2 receptor , immunology , cd8 , medicine , sarcoidosis , bronchoalveolar lavage , t cell , flow cytometry , t cell receptor , cd3 , lung , antigen , immune system , pathology
. Wikén M, Grunewald J, Eklund A, Wahlström J (Respiratory Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden). Multiparameter phenotyping of T‐cell subsets in distinct subgroups of patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. J Intern Med 2012; 271 : 90–103. Objectives. Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disorder in which elevated numbers of activated T cells are found in the lung. HLA‐DRB1*0301 pos (DR3 pos ) patients are characterized by good prognosis and an accumulation of lung CD4 pos T cells expressing the T‐cell receptor (TCR) gene segment AV2S3. Our aim was to phenotype lung and blood T‐cell subsets in distinct patient groups to better understand the function of these subsets. Design. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and whole blood were obtained from a total of 22 patients with sarcoidosis, of whom 11 were DR3 pos . Using eight‐colour flow cytometry, phenotyping of T cells was performed with regard to CD3, CD4, CD8, CD25, CD27, CD45RO, CD57, CD69, CD103, FOXP3 and TCR AV2S3. Results. DR3 pos patients had fewer FOXP3 pos (regulatory) CD45RO pos (memory) BAL T cells than DR3 neg patients. Fewer AV2S3 pos T cells were FOXP3 pos , compared with AV2S3 neg cells, thus indicating an effector function and not a regulatory role for this subset. Fewer lung and blood AV2S3 pos T cells were CD25 pos CD27 pos , and more were CD25 neg CD27 neg and CD69 pos , compared with AV2S3 neg T cells, indicating a higher degree of differentiation and activation in both compartments. Conclusion. Our main findings were a lower proportion of regulatory T cells in DR3 pos patients, together with the accumulation of AV2S3 pos T cells with a highly activated effector phenotype in the lungs of these patients. This may provide for efficient elimination of a harmful antigen in DR3 pos patients and could thus help to explain the spontaneous recovery typically seen in these patients.