International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases 2013; 16: 518–526
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
IL-22+CD4+ T cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis Ling ZHAO,1 Zhenyu JIANG,1 Yanfang JIANG,2,3 Ning MA,1 Yandong ZHANG,1 Li FENG1 and Kai WANG1 1
Department of Rheumatology, the First Hospital, 2Department of Central Laboratory, the Second Part of First Hospital, and 3Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China
Abstract Aim: Interleukin (IL)-22 regulates the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. The role of IL-22+ T-cells in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is unclear. This study aimed at examining the levels of plasma IL-22 and the frequency of IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in patients with RA. Methods: A total of 30 RA patients and 18 gender- and age-matched healthy controls were recruited. Their peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and ionomycin for 6 h. The frequency of IL-22+, interferon (IFN)-c+ and IL-17A+ CD4+ T-cells was characterized by flow cytometry. The levels of plasma IFN-c, IL-17A and IL-22, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (CCP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured. Results: The frequency of IFNc–IL-17A–IL-22+, IFNc–IL-17A+IL-22+, and IFNc+IL-17A–IL-22+ T-cells in CD4+ T-cells and the levels of plasma IFNc, IL-17 and IL-22 in RA patients were significant higher than those in healthy controls. The percentages of IL-17A+IL-22+CD4+ T-cells were correlated positively with the frequency of Th22 or Th17 cells in the RA patients. The percentages of IL-22+CD4+ T-cells were correlated positively with the values of disease activity score (DAS28) in the RA patients. The percentages of Th22 cells were correlated positively with the levels of plasma IL-22 in the RA patients. Conclusion: Our data suggest that IL-22+CD4+ T-cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of RA and that therapeutic targeting of IL-22 may be valuable for the intervention of RA. Key words: IL-22, rheumatoid arthritis, Th1, Th17, Th22.
INTRODUCTION Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease and is characterized by severe joint deformities due to bony erosions and tendon damage. The chronic inflammatory process is regulated by a complex cytokine network and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs).1 The roles of various cytokines in the development and progression of RA have been extensively studied, which
Correspondence: Professors Zhenyu Jiang and Yanfang Jiang, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun 130032, China. Emails: [email protected], yanfangjiang@hotmail. com
have resulted in the development of new therapies for the intervention of RA.2 Therefore, continual studies of new cytokines in the pathogenesis of RA will be of great significance. Interleukin (IL)-22 is one member of the IL-10 family and has 22% homology to IL-10. IL-22 is produced by several types of cells, including activated CD4+ T-cells, natural killer (NK) cells, NKT cells and lymphoid tissue inducer cells.3–5 IL-22 has many functions, such as protection against tissue damage and regulating inflammation and autoimmunity.6–8 Previous studies have shown that IL-22 can induce the expression of antiinflammatory proteins, such as follistatin and IL-11, and induce the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines,
© 2013 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd
Increased IL-22+CD4+ T cells in RA patients
such as IL-6, chemokines and acute-phase reactants.9,10 Indeed, elevated levels of plasma IL-22 are detected in patients with psoriasis and correlated with disease severity, while the levels of plasma IL-22 are reduced following anti-psoriatic therapy.7,11 In addition, higher levels of serum IL-22 are detected in patients with Crohn’s disease and are associated with up-regulated tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) and IL-8 expression in intestinal epithelial cells.12 Similarly, increased concentrations of serum IL-22 are also observed and associated with disease severity in patients with RA.13,14 There are different subsets of activated CD4+ T-cells, such as interferongamma (IFNc)-IL-17–IL-22+ (Th22), IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ (IL-22+ Th1), and IFNc-IL-17+IL-22+ (IL-22+ Th17) that produce IL-22 and contribute to the pathogenesis of pro-inflammatory autoimmune diseases.15 However, which type of IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells is associated with elevated levels of serum IL-22 has not been clarified in patients with RA. The functional differentiation of Th22 cells is regulated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a key transcription factor, and Th22 cells secrete IL-22, which can activate signal transduction and transcription 3 (STAT3).16 The functional differentiation of Th22 cells is regulated positively by IL-6, TNF-a and IL-23.17 Previous studies have shown that a higher frequency of Th22 is detected in patients with RA.14,18 Notably, IL-6 and IL-23 are crucial regulators of Th17 differentiation, and Th17 cells are important players in the pathogenesis of RA.19,20 In addition, the role of IFNc+ Th1 cells in the pathogenesis of RA remains controversial.21–23 Therefore, the frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+ Th1 and Th17 cells in patients with RA and their roles in the pathogenesis of RA have not been clarified. Moreover, how the relationship works among Th17, Th22 and Th1 cells in the development and progression of RA, and whether the frequency of Th17, Th22 and Th1 is associated with the disease severity in Chinese patients with RA, have not been clarified. In this study, we characterized the frequency of peripheral blood Th22, Th17, Th1, IL-22+ Th17 and IL-22+ Th1 cells in 30 patients with new onset RA and 18 gender- and age-matched healthy controls, by flow cytometry analysis. Furthermore, we examined the concentrations of plasma IL-22, IL-17 and IFNc in this population. In addition, we investigated the potential correlation between the frequency of different functional CD4+ T-cells and clinical disease severity in these RA patients. Our data suggest that IL-22+CD4+ T-cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of RA in Chinese patients.
International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases 2013; 16: 518–526
MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 30 patients with new onset RA were recruited from the inpatient service of the First Hospital of Jilin University between March and June of 2011. An additional 18 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects were recruited from the outpatient service at the same hospital. Individual patients with RA were diagnosed, according to the revised criteria for the classification of RA by the American College of Rheumatology.24 The degrees of disease activity in these patients were assessed using the disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28), and a score ≥ 2.6 was defined active disease.25 Patients were excluded if they had myositis, systemic sclerosis, or other autoimmune diseases and if he/she had received immunosuppressive therapy or glucocorticoid therapy within the past 6 months. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant. The experimental protocol was established according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of Jilin University.
Data collection The baseline demographic and clinical data were collected from hospital records and reviewed by experienced physicians. The data included age, sex and current medications. Routine laboratory investigation included full blood count, serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (CCP). The levels of serum CRP, ESR and RF were determined by scatter turbidimetry using a Siemens special protein analyzer (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Products, GmbH, Munich, Germany). The levels of serum CCP were determined by the chemoluminescence microparticle immune method using a specific reagent (Abbott, GmbH, Wiesbaden, Germany).
Isolation and stimulation of PBMCs Fasting peripheral venous blood samples were collected from individual participants and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated by densitygradient centrifugation using Ficoll-Paque Plus (Amersham Biosciences, Little Chalfont, UK). PBMCs at 106/mL were stimulated in duplicate with phorbol 12myristate 13-acetate (PMA, 1 lg/mL) and ionomycin (50 lg/mL; Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) in 10% human sera (AB type) in Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 medium at 37°C in a humidified incubator of 95% air and 5% carbon dioxide for 4 h and
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cultured for another 2 h in the presence of brefeldin A (BFA, 0.5 lg/mL; Sigma). The same cells were cultured in medium alone and used as negative controls.
Table 1 Clinical and laboratory characteristics of subjects
Flow cytometry analysis The stimulated PBMCs were harvested and stained with PerCP-anti-CD4 (Becton Dickinson, San Diego, CA, USA), fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde at room temperature (RT) for 30 min and then permeabilized with 0.5% saponin in 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) in PBS (30 min at RT). After being washed, the cells were stained with FITC-anti-IFN-c, Alexa-Flour-anti-IL-17 (Becton Dickinson), and PE-anti-IL-22 (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA). The frequency of cytokine+ T-cells was determined by flow cytometry analysis on a BD FACSCalibur (Becton Dickinson) using FlowJo software version 7.5.5 for Microsoft ( TreeStar, San Carlos, CA).
ELISA The concentrations of plasma IFN-c, IL-17 and IL-22 in individual participants were determined by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using specific cytokine kits, according to the manufacturer’s instructions (R&D Systems).
Statistical analysis All data are expressed as individual values, median and range of each group of subjects. The difference between groups was analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U-test. The potential correlation between variables was analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation test. All statistical tests were performed using SPSS 19.0 for Windows (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A two-sided Pvalue of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS A high frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in the patients with RA To examine the frequency of different subsets of CD4+ T-cells, a total of 30 patients with new-onset RA and 18 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects were recruited, and their demographic and clinical characteristics are shown in Table 1. As expected, there was no significant difference in distribution of gender and age, and the white blood cell (WBC) counts between the RA patients and healthy controls. In contrast, the levels of serum RF, CCP, ESR and CRP in the RA patients were significantly higher than that in the healthy controls. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that the frequency of peripheral blood Th22 and Th17 cells in the
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Characteristics
Healthy controls (n = 18)
RA patients (n = 30)
Male/female Age (years) RF (IU/mL) CCP (U/mL) ESR (mm/h) CRP (mg/L) DAS28
6/12 48 (34–79) 10 (0.32–16.78) 19 (1.35–28.57) 3 (0–5) 7.2 (0–15) ND
7/23 53 (35–75) 48 (0.11–2890)* 396 (0.67–3222)* 39 (4–120)* 24.45 (0.61–154)* 5.5 (2.8–7.5)
WBC (9 109/L)
6.73 (4.01–9.89)
6.87 (4.13–9.74)
Data shown are median (range) or real case numbers. ND, undetectable; RF, rheumatoid factor; CCP, anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28, disease activity score of 28 joints; WBC, white blood cell count. The normal ranges of RF, CCP, CRP and ESR are 0–15 IU/mL, 0–25 U/mL, 0–15 mg/L and 0–5 mm/h, respectively. P < 0.05 versus the controls.
patients with RA was significantly higher than those in the controls (Fig. 1). Further analysis revealed that the frequency of peripheral blood IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ and IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in the RA patients was significantly higher than those in the healthy controls (Fig. 2). Therefore, a higher frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+CD4+ T-cells existed in the RA patients.
Percentages of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells are correlated with frequency of Th22 or Th17 cells in RA patients To investigate the potential relationship among IL-22, IFN-c or IL-17 producing CD4+ T-cells, we performed a correlation analysis. We found that the percentages of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells were correlated positively with the frequency of Th22 (r = 0.2307, P = 0.0062, Fig. 3) or Th17 (r = 0.1411, P = 0.0488; Fig. 3) cells in the RA patients. However, there was no significant association among Th22, Th17, Th1, IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ and IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in this population (data not shown).
Increased frequency of Th22 cells is correlated with elevated levels of serum IL-22 in RA patients We further tested the concentrations of plasma IL-22, IL-17 and IFN-c in the RA patients and healthy controls by ELISA. We found that the concentrations of plasma IL-22, IL-17 and IFN-c were significantly higher in RA patients than that in controls (Fig. 4). The levels of plasma IL-22 in the RA patients were correlated positively with the percentages of their
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Figure 1 The frequencies of peripheral blood Th1 (IFN-c+CD4+), Th17 (IFN-cIL-17+ IL-22-CD4+) and Th22 (IFN-c-IL17-IL-22+CD4+) cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls (HC). PBMCs from RA patients and HC were isolated and stimulated ex vivo with PMA and ionomycin in the presence of BFA for 6 h. The cells were stained with PerCP-anti-CD4. After being fixed and permeabilized, the cells were stained withfluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-anti-IFN-c, Alexa-Flour-antiIL-17 and PE-anti-IL-22 and subjected to flow cytometry analysis of at least 10 000 events per sample. The frequency of IFN-c+CD4+ T cells was calculated and the IFN-c-CD4+ T cells were gated (R2) for characterizing the frequency of IL-17-IL-22+CD4+ (Th22) or IL-17+IL-22-CD4+ (Th17) T cells. Data shown are representative charts from RA patients and HC or the percentages of IL-22+CD4+ T cells in total CD4+ T cells from individual subjects. (a) Flow cytometry analysis of the frequency of IFN-c+CD4+ T, Th17 and Th22 cells in RA patients and HC; (b) Quantitative analysis.
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peripheral blood Th22 cells (r = 0.8269, P < 0.0001, Fig. 4). However, there was no significant correlation between the levels of plasma IL-22 and the frequency of IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+CD4+ T-cells or the percentages of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in these patients. Similarly, there was no significant correlation of the concentrations of plasma IFNc with the frequency of Th1 cells, and no significant correlation between the levels of plasma IL-17 and the frequency of Th17 cells in these patients.
Percentages of peripheral blood IL-22+CD4+ T-cells are correlated significantly with the degrees of disease severity in RA patients To determine the potential role of IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in the development of RA, we analyzed the values of
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DAS28 in 16 RA patients. We found that DAS28 values were correlated positively with the percentages of peripheral blood Th22, IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ and IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells (Fig. 5). Furthermore, the percentages of peripheral blood Th22 or Th17 cells were correlated significantly with the values of ESR in 17 RA patients. In addition, the percentages of Th17 cells were correlated positively with the concentrations of serum RF in these RA patients. However, there was no statistically significant association between ESR values and the frequency of IFNc–IL17+IL-22+ and IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in these RA patients. Similarly, there was no significant association between the frequency of IL-22+ CD4+ T cells and the levels of serum CCP and CRP in these patients.
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Figure 2 The frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls (HC). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from RA patients and HC were isolated and stimulated ex vivo with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and ionomycin in the presence of brefeldin A (BFA) for 6 h. The cells were stained with PerCPanti-CD4. After being fixed and permeabilized, the cells were stained with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)anti-IFN-c, Alexa-Flour-anti-IL-17 and PE-anti-IL-22. The frequencies of Th1, Th17 and Th22 cells were determined by flow cytometry analysis. The cells were first gated on IFNc–CD4+ T cells (R2) to characterize the frequency of IL-17+IL22+ CD4+ T-cells or then gated on IL17–IL-22+ CD4+ (R3) to analyze the frequency of IFNc+IL-22+ CD4+ T cells. Data are representative charts or expressed as individual values of 30 patients and 18 controls. (a) Flow cytometry analysis. (b) Quantitative analysis.
Figure 3 The correlation between the frequency of peripheral blood IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells and Th22 or Th17 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The potential association between the frequency of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells, Th22 and Th17 in patients with RA was analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation test. Data are expressed as individual values of the percentages of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells against the percentages of Th22 or Th17 cells. There was no significant association between the frequency of IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells and Th22 cells in this population (data not shown).
DISCUSSION IL-22 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune inflammatory diseases. Previous evidence has
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shown that the frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is significantly higher than those in healthy
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Figure 4 The levels of plasma IL-22, IL17 and IFN-c levels and their relationships with IL-22+CD4+ T cells in participants. The levels of plasma IL-22, IL-17 and IFN-c in individual participants were determined by ELISA and the potential association between the levels of plasma IFN-c, IL-17 and IL-22 and the frequency of IL-22+CD4+ T cells in CD4+ T cells in patients was analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation test. Data shown are mean values from individual participants from three separate experiments. (a) The levels of plasma IL-22; (b) The levels of plasma IL-17; (c) The levels of plasma IFN-c; (d) Correlation analysis of available 17 patients.
Figure 5 The percentages of different functional CD4+ T-cells are correlated with disease activities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The potential association of the percentages of Th22, Th17, IL-22+ Th17 and IL-22+ Th1 cells with disease activity score (DAS28), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or rheumatoid factor (RF) values in patients with RA were analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation test. Data shown are the values of DAS28, ESR or RF against the percentages of Th22, Th17, IL-22+ Th17, IL-22+ Th1 cells in patients with RA (n = 17–20).
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controls and that higher levels of serum IL-22 are associated with the development and progression of Crohn’s disease and psoriasis.7,11,12,23 In this study, we examined the concentrations of plasma IL-22 in RA patients and healthy controls. We found that the levels of plasma IL-22 in RA patients were significantly higher than those in the healthy controls. These results suggest that IL-22 may contribute to the pathogenesis of RA in Chinese patients. Our data were consistent with a previous report that elevated levels of IL-22 were detected in the synovial tissues from patients with RA and that higher levels of IL-22R1 expression were observed in both the lining and sublining layers of rheumatoid synovium.13 It is possible that IL-22, through the STAT3, ERK1/2, and p38 MAKP pathways, stimulates synovial fibroblast proliferation and MCP-1 production, leading to inflammation.13,26 Na€ıve CD4+ T-cells, after activation, can differentiate into Th1, Th2, Th17, Th22, Tfh and Treg, which produce specific cytokines. However, some activated CD4+ T-cells are IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+, IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ or IFNc–IL-17–IL-22+.15 In this study, we found that the frequency of peripheral blood Th17, IFNc–IL-17–IL-22+ (Th22), IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ or IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+, but not Th1 cells, in RA patients, was significantly higher than that in healthy controls. Our data were consistent with a previous report that shows a higher frequency of IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in RA patients23 and revealed that not only is there a higher frequency of Th22 cells, but also IL-22+ Th1 and Th17 cells in RA patients. Our findings suggest that all types of IL-22+CD4+ T-cells may play a role in the development of RA in Chinese patients. However, we did not detect a significant difference in the frequency of IL-22+CD4– cells between the RA patients and healthy controls. Interestingly, we found that the concentrations of plasma IL-22 were correlated positively with the frequency of Th22 cells, but not with IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ and IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ in RA patients. These, together with the relatively higher frequency of Th22 and the lack of significantly higher frequency of IL-22+CD4– cells in RA patients, suggest that Th22 cells may be the major source of plasma IL-22 in these patients. We are interested in further investigating whether IL-22 comes mainly from Th22 cells in RA patients. More importantly, we found that the frequency of Th22 and IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells was correlated with DAS28 values and that the frequency of Th22 was also correlated positively with ESR values in RA patients. These data suggest that Th22 and IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells may be crucial for the activity and progression of RA and that their frequency in
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peripheral blood may be a valuable biomarker of RA activity in Chinese patients. Previous studies have shown that Th1 and IFNc contribute to the pathogenesis of RA.21–23 In this study, we detected significantly higher levels of plasma IFNc in RA patients. However, we did not detect a significantly higher frequency of IFNc+ Th1 cells in RA patients. The difference in the frequency of Th1 cells between our study and others may stem from different populations of patients with various genetic backgrounds. Notably, high levels of IFNc can be produced by NK, activated CD8+ T-cells, and macrophages, which may explain the higher levels of IFNc in RA patients. Th17 and IL-17 have been associated with the pathogenesis of RA in humans. We not only detected a higher frequency of Th17, but also higher levels of plasma IL17 in RA patients, consistent with previous reports.19,20 More importantly, we found that the frequency of Th17 cells was correlated positively with ESR values and the concentrations of RF in RA patients. Given that ESR and RF are valuable biomarkers of inflammation and autoimmunity, the positive correlation between the frequency of Th17 and ESR and RF values possibly indicates the important role of Th17 and IL-17 in the pathogenesis of RA. Interestingly, we found that the frequency of IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells was correlated positively with the percentages of Th17 and Th22 in these patients. Furthermore, the frequency of IL17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells was also correlated significantly with DAS28 values in RA patients. Given that IL-23related signaling is crucial for the differentiation of Th17 and IL-22 expression in T-cells,27,28 it is possible that IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells may differentiate to either Th17 or Th22 during the development of RA. Conceivably, therapeutic targeting of IL-23 and related signaling mat be a promising strategy for RA intervention. Finally, we recognized the variable frequencies of IL17+IL22+ CD4+ and IFN-c+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in these patients. However, we did not detect any significant association between these two populations of CD4+ T-cells in these patients, even after eliminating those with lower frequency of each type of cells (data not shown). Given that IFN-c has been shown to inhibit the development of Th17 cells, the lack of inverse correlation between these types of cells suggests that these patients may not develop a special type of T-cell immunity during the process of RA. The diverse T-cell immunity may be associated with varying genetic backgrounds, possible IL-23 receptor mutation status, or other unknown factors. We are interested in further investigating the dynamics of T-cell immunity during
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the process of RA and whether an individual’s genetic background, such as MHC type and the status of IL23R, can shape T-cell immunity in RA patients. We recognized that our study had limitations of small sample size and the lack of detecting antigen-specific T-cell responses, as well as inflammation in the target tissues. Furthermore, our study only centered on one time point. Therefore, further longitudinal studies of antigen-specific T-cell immunity and inflammation in the target tissues in a relative bigger population are warranted.
CONCLUSION In conclusion, our data indicated a higher frequency of IL-22+ CD4+ and Th17 cells in RA patients and that the frequency of Th22 cells was correlated with the degree of RA severity in this population. These data suggest that IL-22+ CD4+ T cells and Th17 cells contribute to the pathogenesis of RA and that the frequency of Th22 cells may be a valuable biomarker for the evaluation of disease severity in Chinese RA patients. Therefore, our findings may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of RA and aid in the design of new immunotherapies for RA patients.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We thank Medjaden Bioscience Limited for assisting in the preparation of this manuscript. This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30972610 and 81273240), Jilin Province Science and Technology Agency (No. 200705128 and 20110716), the Health Department Research Projects in Jilin Province (2009Z054), Bethune B plan of Jilin University.
DISCLOSURE No competing financial interests exist.
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19 Raza K, Falciani F, Curnow SJ et al. (2005) Early rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by a distinct and transient synovial fluid cytokine profile of T cell and stromal cell origin. Arthritis Res Ther 7, R784–95. 20 Ziolkowska M, Koc A, Luszczykiewicz G et al. (2000) High levels of IL-17 in rheumatoid arthritis patients: IL-15 triggers in vitroI L-17 production via cyclosporinA -sensitive mechanism. J Immunol 164, 2832–8. 21 Smolen JS, Tohidast-Akrad M, Gal A et al. (1996) The role of T lymphocytes and cytokines in rheumatoid arthritis. Scand J Rheumatol 25, 1–4. 22 Kawashima M, Miossec P (2005) mRNA quantification of T-bet, GATA-3, IFN-gamma, and IL-4 shows a defective Th1 immune response in the peripheral blood from rheumatoid arthritis patients: link with disease activity. J Clin Immunol 25, 209–14. 23 Shen H, Goodall JC, Hill Gaston JS (2009) Frequency and phenotype of peripheral blood Th17 cells in ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 60, 1647–56. 24 Arnett FC, Edworthy SM, Bloch DA et al. (1998) The American Rheumatism Association 1987 revised criteria
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for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 31, 315–24. Prevoo ML, van’t Hof MA, Kuper HH, van Leeuwen MA, van de Putte LB, van Riel PL (1995) Modified disease activity scores that include twenty-eight-joint counts. Development and validation in a prospective longitudinal study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 38, 44–8. Lejeune D, Dumoutier L, Constantinescu S, Kruijer W, Schuringa JJ, Renauld JC (2002) Interleukin-22 (IL-22) activates the JAK/STAT, ERK, JNK, and p38 MAP kinase pathways in a rat hepatoma cell line: pathways that are shared with and distinct from IL-10. J Biol Chem 277, 33676–82. Schmechel S, Konrad A, Diegelmann J et al. (2008) Linking genetic susceptibility to Crohn’s disease with Th17 cell function: IL-22 serum levels are increased in Crohn’s disease and correlate with disease activity and IL23R genotype status. Inflam Bowel Dis 14, 204–12. Volpe E, Servant N, Zollinger R et al. (2008) A critical function for transforming growth factor-beta, interleukin 23 and proinflammatory cytokines in driving and modulating human T(H)-17 responses. Nat Immunol 9, 650–7.
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
IL-22+CD4+ T cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis Ling ZHAO,1 Zhenyu JIANG,1 Yanfang JIANG,2,3 Ning MA,1 Yandong ZHANG,1 Li FENG1 and Kai WANG1 1
Department of Rheumatology, the First Hospital, 2Department of Central Laboratory, the Second Part of First Hospital, and 3Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China
Abstract Aim: Interleukin (IL)-22 regulates the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. The role of IL-22+ T-cells in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is unclear. This study aimed at examining the levels of plasma IL-22 and the frequency of IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in patients with RA. Methods: A total of 30 RA patients and 18 gender- and age-matched healthy controls were recruited. Their peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and ionomycin for 6 h. The frequency of IL-22+, interferon (IFN)-c+ and IL-17A+ CD4+ T-cells was characterized by flow cytometry. The levels of plasma IFN-c, IL-17A and IL-22, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (CCP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured. Results: The frequency of IFNc–IL-17A–IL-22+, IFNc–IL-17A+IL-22+, and IFNc+IL-17A–IL-22+ T-cells in CD4+ T-cells and the levels of plasma IFNc, IL-17 and IL-22 in RA patients were significant higher than those in healthy controls. The percentages of IL-17A+IL-22+CD4+ T-cells were correlated positively with the frequency of Th22 or Th17 cells in the RA patients. The percentages of IL-22+CD4+ T-cells were correlated positively with the values of disease activity score (DAS28) in the RA patients. The percentages of Th22 cells were correlated positively with the levels of plasma IL-22 in the RA patients. Conclusion: Our data suggest that IL-22+CD4+ T-cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of RA and that therapeutic targeting of IL-22 may be valuable for the intervention of RA. Key words: IL-22, rheumatoid arthritis, Th1, Th17, Th22.
INTRODUCTION Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease and is characterized by severe joint deformities due to bony erosions and tendon damage. The chronic inflammatory process is regulated by a complex cytokine network and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs).1 The roles of various cytokines in the development and progression of RA have been extensively studied, which
Correspondence: Professors Zhenyu Jiang and Yanfang Jiang, First Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun 130032, China. Emails: [email protected], yanfangjiang@hotmail. com
have resulted in the development of new therapies for the intervention of RA.2 Therefore, continual studies of new cytokines in the pathogenesis of RA will be of great significance. Interleukin (IL)-22 is one member of the IL-10 family and has 22% homology to IL-10. IL-22 is produced by several types of cells, including activated CD4+ T-cells, natural killer (NK) cells, NKT cells and lymphoid tissue inducer cells.3–5 IL-22 has many functions, such as protection against tissue damage and regulating inflammation and autoimmunity.6–8 Previous studies have shown that IL-22 can induce the expression of antiinflammatory proteins, such as follistatin and IL-11, and induce the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines,
© 2013 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd
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such as IL-6, chemokines and acute-phase reactants.9,10 Indeed, elevated levels of plasma IL-22 are detected in patients with psoriasis and correlated with disease severity, while the levels of plasma IL-22 are reduced following anti-psoriatic therapy.7,11 In addition, higher levels of serum IL-22 are detected in patients with Crohn’s disease and are associated with up-regulated tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) and IL-8 expression in intestinal epithelial cells.12 Similarly, increased concentrations of serum IL-22 are also observed and associated with disease severity in patients with RA.13,14 There are different subsets of activated CD4+ T-cells, such as interferongamma (IFNc)-IL-17–IL-22+ (Th22), IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ (IL-22+ Th1), and IFNc-IL-17+IL-22+ (IL-22+ Th17) that produce IL-22 and contribute to the pathogenesis of pro-inflammatory autoimmune diseases.15 However, which type of IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells is associated with elevated levels of serum IL-22 has not been clarified in patients with RA. The functional differentiation of Th22 cells is regulated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a key transcription factor, and Th22 cells secrete IL-22, which can activate signal transduction and transcription 3 (STAT3).16 The functional differentiation of Th22 cells is regulated positively by IL-6, TNF-a and IL-23.17 Previous studies have shown that a higher frequency of Th22 is detected in patients with RA.14,18 Notably, IL-6 and IL-23 are crucial regulators of Th17 differentiation, and Th17 cells are important players in the pathogenesis of RA.19,20 In addition, the role of IFNc+ Th1 cells in the pathogenesis of RA remains controversial.21–23 Therefore, the frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+ Th1 and Th17 cells in patients with RA and their roles in the pathogenesis of RA have not been clarified. Moreover, how the relationship works among Th17, Th22 and Th1 cells in the development and progression of RA, and whether the frequency of Th17, Th22 and Th1 is associated with the disease severity in Chinese patients with RA, have not been clarified. In this study, we characterized the frequency of peripheral blood Th22, Th17, Th1, IL-22+ Th17 and IL-22+ Th1 cells in 30 patients with new onset RA and 18 gender- and age-matched healthy controls, by flow cytometry analysis. Furthermore, we examined the concentrations of plasma IL-22, IL-17 and IFNc in this population. In addition, we investigated the potential correlation between the frequency of different functional CD4+ T-cells and clinical disease severity in these RA patients. Our data suggest that IL-22+CD4+ T-cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of RA in Chinese patients.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 30 patients with new onset RA were recruited from the inpatient service of the First Hospital of Jilin University between March and June of 2011. An additional 18 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects were recruited from the outpatient service at the same hospital. Individual patients with RA were diagnosed, according to the revised criteria for the classification of RA by the American College of Rheumatology.24 The degrees of disease activity in these patients were assessed using the disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28), and a score ≥ 2.6 was defined active disease.25 Patients were excluded if they had myositis, systemic sclerosis, or other autoimmune diseases and if he/she had received immunosuppressive therapy or glucocorticoid therapy within the past 6 months. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant. The experimental protocol was established according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of Jilin University.
Data collection The baseline demographic and clinical data were collected from hospital records and reviewed by experienced physicians. The data included age, sex and current medications. Routine laboratory investigation included full blood count, serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (CCP). The levels of serum CRP, ESR and RF were determined by scatter turbidimetry using a Siemens special protein analyzer (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Products, GmbH, Munich, Germany). The levels of serum CCP were determined by the chemoluminescence microparticle immune method using a specific reagent (Abbott, GmbH, Wiesbaden, Germany).
Isolation and stimulation of PBMCs Fasting peripheral venous blood samples were collected from individual participants and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated by densitygradient centrifugation using Ficoll-Paque Plus (Amersham Biosciences, Little Chalfont, UK). PBMCs at 106/mL were stimulated in duplicate with phorbol 12myristate 13-acetate (PMA, 1 lg/mL) and ionomycin (50 lg/mL; Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) in 10% human sera (AB type) in Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 medium at 37°C in a humidified incubator of 95% air and 5% carbon dioxide for 4 h and
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cultured for another 2 h in the presence of brefeldin A (BFA, 0.5 lg/mL; Sigma). The same cells were cultured in medium alone and used as negative controls.
Table 1 Clinical and laboratory characteristics of subjects
Flow cytometry analysis The stimulated PBMCs were harvested and stained with PerCP-anti-CD4 (Becton Dickinson, San Diego, CA, USA), fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde at room temperature (RT) for 30 min and then permeabilized with 0.5% saponin in 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) in PBS (30 min at RT). After being washed, the cells were stained with FITC-anti-IFN-c, Alexa-Flour-anti-IL-17 (Becton Dickinson), and PE-anti-IL-22 (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA). The frequency of cytokine+ T-cells was determined by flow cytometry analysis on a BD FACSCalibur (Becton Dickinson) using FlowJo software version 7.5.5 for Microsoft ( TreeStar, San Carlos, CA).
ELISA The concentrations of plasma IFN-c, IL-17 and IL-22 in individual participants were determined by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using specific cytokine kits, according to the manufacturer’s instructions (R&D Systems).
Statistical analysis All data are expressed as individual values, median and range of each group of subjects. The difference between groups was analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U-test. The potential correlation between variables was analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation test. All statistical tests were performed using SPSS 19.0 for Windows (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A two-sided Pvalue of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS A high frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in the patients with RA To examine the frequency of different subsets of CD4+ T-cells, a total of 30 patients with new-onset RA and 18 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects were recruited, and their demographic and clinical characteristics are shown in Table 1. As expected, there was no significant difference in distribution of gender and age, and the white blood cell (WBC) counts between the RA patients and healthy controls. In contrast, the levels of serum RF, CCP, ESR and CRP in the RA patients were significantly higher than that in the healthy controls. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that the frequency of peripheral blood Th22 and Th17 cells in the
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Characteristics
Healthy controls (n = 18)
RA patients (n = 30)
Male/female Age (years) RF (IU/mL) CCP (U/mL) ESR (mm/h) CRP (mg/L) DAS28
6/12 48 (34–79) 10 (0.32–16.78) 19 (1.35–28.57) 3 (0–5) 7.2 (0–15) ND
7/23 53 (35–75) 48 (0.11–2890)* 396 (0.67–3222)* 39 (4–120)* 24.45 (0.61–154)* 5.5 (2.8–7.5)
WBC (9 109/L)
6.73 (4.01–9.89)
6.87 (4.13–9.74)
Data shown are median (range) or real case numbers. ND, undetectable; RF, rheumatoid factor; CCP, anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28, disease activity score of 28 joints; WBC, white blood cell count. The normal ranges of RF, CCP, CRP and ESR are 0–15 IU/mL, 0–25 U/mL, 0–15 mg/L and 0–5 mm/h, respectively. P < 0.05 versus the controls.
patients with RA was significantly higher than those in the controls (Fig. 1). Further analysis revealed that the frequency of peripheral blood IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ and IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in the RA patients was significantly higher than those in the healthy controls (Fig. 2). Therefore, a higher frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+CD4+ T-cells existed in the RA patients.
Percentages of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells are correlated with frequency of Th22 or Th17 cells in RA patients To investigate the potential relationship among IL-22, IFN-c or IL-17 producing CD4+ T-cells, we performed a correlation analysis. We found that the percentages of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells were correlated positively with the frequency of Th22 (r = 0.2307, P = 0.0062, Fig. 3) or Th17 (r = 0.1411, P = 0.0488; Fig. 3) cells in the RA patients. However, there was no significant association among Th22, Th17, Th1, IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ and IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in this population (data not shown).
Increased frequency of Th22 cells is correlated with elevated levels of serum IL-22 in RA patients We further tested the concentrations of plasma IL-22, IL-17 and IFN-c in the RA patients and healthy controls by ELISA. We found that the concentrations of plasma IL-22, IL-17 and IFN-c were significantly higher in RA patients than that in controls (Fig. 4). The levels of plasma IL-22 in the RA patients were correlated positively with the percentages of their
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Figure 1 The frequencies of peripheral blood Th1 (IFN-c+CD4+), Th17 (IFN-cIL-17+ IL-22-CD4+) and Th22 (IFN-c-IL17-IL-22+CD4+) cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls (HC). PBMCs from RA patients and HC were isolated and stimulated ex vivo with PMA and ionomycin in the presence of BFA for 6 h. The cells were stained with PerCP-anti-CD4. After being fixed and permeabilized, the cells were stained withfluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-anti-IFN-c, Alexa-Flour-antiIL-17 and PE-anti-IL-22 and subjected to flow cytometry analysis of at least 10 000 events per sample. The frequency of IFN-c+CD4+ T cells was calculated and the IFN-c-CD4+ T cells were gated (R2) for characterizing the frequency of IL-17-IL-22+CD4+ (Th22) or IL-17+IL-22-CD4+ (Th17) T cells. Data shown are representative charts from RA patients and HC or the percentages of IL-22+CD4+ T cells in total CD4+ T cells from individual subjects. (a) Flow cytometry analysis of the frequency of IFN-c+CD4+ T, Th17 and Th22 cells in RA patients and HC; (b) Quantitative analysis.
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peripheral blood Th22 cells (r = 0.8269, P < 0.0001, Fig. 4). However, there was no significant correlation between the levels of plasma IL-22 and the frequency of IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+CD4+ T-cells or the percentages of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in these patients. Similarly, there was no significant correlation of the concentrations of plasma IFNc with the frequency of Th1 cells, and no significant correlation between the levels of plasma IL-17 and the frequency of Th17 cells in these patients.
Percentages of peripheral blood IL-22+CD4+ T-cells are correlated significantly with the degrees of disease severity in RA patients To determine the potential role of IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in the development of RA, we analyzed the values of
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DAS28 in 16 RA patients. We found that DAS28 values were correlated positively with the percentages of peripheral blood Th22, IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ and IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells (Fig. 5). Furthermore, the percentages of peripheral blood Th22 or Th17 cells were correlated significantly with the values of ESR in 17 RA patients. In addition, the percentages of Th17 cells were correlated positively with the concentrations of serum RF in these RA patients. However, there was no statistically significant association between ESR values and the frequency of IFNc–IL17+IL-22+ and IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in these RA patients. Similarly, there was no significant association between the frequency of IL-22+ CD4+ T cells and the levels of serum CCP and CRP in these patients.
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Figure 2 The frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls (HC). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from RA patients and HC were isolated and stimulated ex vivo with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and ionomycin in the presence of brefeldin A (BFA) for 6 h. The cells were stained with PerCPanti-CD4. After being fixed and permeabilized, the cells were stained with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)anti-IFN-c, Alexa-Flour-anti-IL-17 and PE-anti-IL-22. The frequencies of Th1, Th17 and Th22 cells were determined by flow cytometry analysis. The cells were first gated on IFNc–CD4+ T cells (R2) to characterize the frequency of IL-17+IL22+ CD4+ T-cells or then gated on IL17–IL-22+ CD4+ (R3) to analyze the frequency of IFNc+IL-22+ CD4+ T cells. Data are representative charts or expressed as individual values of 30 patients and 18 controls. (a) Flow cytometry analysis. (b) Quantitative analysis.
Figure 3 The correlation between the frequency of peripheral blood IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells and Th22 or Th17 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The potential association between the frequency of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells, Th22 and Th17 in patients with RA was analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation test. Data are expressed as individual values of the percentages of IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells against the percentages of Th22 or Th17 cells. There was no significant association between the frequency of IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells and Th22 cells in this population (data not shown).
DISCUSSION IL-22 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune inflammatory diseases. Previous evidence has
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shown that the frequency of peripheral blood IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is significantly higher than those in healthy
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Figure 4 The levels of plasma IL-22, IL17 and IFN-c levels and their relationships with IL-22+CD4+ T cells in participants. The levels of plasma IL-22, IL-17 and IFN-c in individual participants were determined by ELISA and the potential association between the levels of plasma IFN-c, IL-17 and IL-22 and the frequency of IL-22+CD4+ T cells in CD4+ T cells in patients was analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation test. Data shown are mean values from individual participants from three separate experiments. (a) The levels of plasma IL-22; (b) The levels of plasma IL-17; (c) The levels of plasma IFN-c; (d) Correlation analysis of available 17 patients.
Figure 5 The percentages of different functional CD4+ T-cells are correlated with disease activities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The potential association of the percentages of Th22, Th17, IL-22+ Th17 and IL-22+ Th1 cells with disease activity score (DAS28), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or rheumatoid factor (RF) values in patients with RA were analyzed by the Spearman rank correlation test. Data shown are the values of DAS28, ESR or RF against the percentages of Th22, Th17, IL-22+ Th17, IL-22+ Th1 cells in patients with RA (n = 17–20).
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controls and that higher levels of serum IL-22 are associated with the development and progression of Crohn’s disease and psoriasis.7,11,12,23 In this study, we examined the concentrations of plasma IL-22 in RA patients and healthy controls. We found that the levels of plasma IL-22 in RA patients were significantly higher than those in the healthy controls. These results suggest that IL-22 may contribute to the pathogenesis of RA in Chinese patients. Our data were consistent with a previous report that elevated levels of IL-22 were detected in the synovial tissues from patients with RA and that higher levels of IL-22R1 expression were observed in both the lining and sublining layers of rheumatoid synovium.13 It is possible that IL-22, through the STAT3, ERK1/2, and p38 MAKP pathways, stimulates synovial fibroblast proliferation and MCP-1 production, leading to inflammation.13,26 Na€ıve CD4+ T-cells, after activation, can differentiate into Th1, Th2, Th17, Th22, Tfh and Treg, which produce specific cytokines. However, some activated CD4+ T-cells are IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+, IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ or IFNc–IL-17–IL-22+.15 In this study, we found that the frequency of peripheral blood Th17, IFNc–IL-17–IL-22+ (Th22), IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ or IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+, but not Th1 cells, in RA patients, was significantly higher than that in healthy controls. Our data were consistent with a previous report that shows a higher frequency of IL-22+CD4+ T-cells in RA patients23 and revealed that not only is there a higher frequency of Th22 cells, but also IL-22+ Th1 and Th17 cells in RA patients. Our findings suggest that all types of IL-22+CD4+ T-cells may play a role in the development of RA in Chinese patients. However, we did not detect a significant difference in the frequency of IL-22+CD4– cells between the RA patients and healthy controls. Interestingly, we found that the concentrations of plasma IL-22 were correlated positively with the frequency of Th22 cells, but not with IFNc+IL-17–IL-22+ and IFNc–IL-17+IL-22+ in RA patients. These, together with the relatively higher frequency of Th22 and the lack of significantly higher frequency of IL-22+CD4– cells in RA patients, suggest that Th22 cells may be the major source of plasma IL-22 in these patients. We are interested in further investigating whether IL-22 comes mainly from Th22 cells in RA patients. More importantly, we found that the frequency of Th22 and IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells was correlated with DAS28 values and that the frequency of Th22 was also correlated positively with ESR values in RA patients. These data suggest that Th22 and IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells may be crucial for the activity and progression of RA and that their frequency in
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peripheral blood may be a valuable biomarker of RA activity in Chinese patients. Previous studies have shown that Th1 and IFNc contribute to the pathogenesis of RA.21–23 In this study, we detected significantly higher levels of plasma IFNc in RA patients. However, we did not detect a significantly higher frequency of IFNc+ Th1 cells in RA patients. The difference in the frequency of Th1 cells between our study and others may stem from different populations of patients with various genetic backgrounds. Notably, high levels of IFNc can be produced by NK, activated CD8+ T-cells, and macrophages, which may explain the higher levels of IFNc in RA patients. Th17 and IL-17 have been associated with the pathogenesis of RA in humans. We not only detected a higher frequency of Th17, but also higher levels of plasma IL17 in RA patients, consistent with previous reports.19,20 More importantly, we found that the frequency of Th17 cells was correlated positively with ESR values and the concentrations of RF in RA patients. Given that ESR and RF are valuable biomarkers of inflammation and autoimmunity, the positive correlation between the frequency of Th17 and ESR and RF values possibly indicates the important role of Th17 and IL-17 in the pathogenesis of RA. Interestingly, we found that the frequency of IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells was correlated positively with the percentages of Th17 and Th22 in these patients. Furthermore, the frequency of IL17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells was also correlated significantly with DAS28 values in RA patients. Given that IL-23related signaling is crucial for the differentiation of Th17 and IL-22 expression in T-cells,27,28 it is possible that IL-17+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells may differentiate to either Th17 or Th22 during the development of RA. Conceivably, therapeutic targeting of IL-23 and related signaling mat be a promising strategy for RA intervention. Finally, we recognized the variable frequencies of IL17+IL22+ CD4+ and IFN-c+IL-22+ CD4+ T-cells in these patients. However, we did not detect any significant association between these two populations of CD4+ T-cells in these patients, even after eliminating those with lower frequency of each type of cells (data not shown). Given that IFN-c has been shown to inhibit the development of Th17 cells, the lack of inverse correlation between these types of cells suggests that these patients may not develop a special type of T-cell immunity during the process of RA. The diverse T-cell immunity may be associated with varying genetic backgrounds, possible IL-23 receptor mutation status, or other unknown factors. We are interested in further investigating the dynamics of T-cell immunity during
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the process of RA and whether an individual’s genetic background, such as MHC type and the status of IL23R, can shape T-cell immunity in RA patients. We recognized that our study had limitations of small sample size and the lack of detecting antigen-specific T-cell responses, as well as inflammation in the target tissues. Furthermore, our study only centered on one time point. Therefore, further longitudinal studies of antigen-specific T-cell immunity and inflammation in the target tissues in a relative bigger population are warranted.
CONCLUSION In conclusion, our data indicated a higher frequency of IL-22+ CD4+ and Th17 cells in RA patients and that the frequency of Th22 cells was correlated with the degree of RA severity in this population. These data suggest that IL-22+ CD4+ T cells and Th17 cells contribute to the pathogenesis of RA and that the frequency of Th22 cells may be a valuable biomarker for the evaluation of disease severity in Chinese RA patients. Therefore, our findings may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of RA and aid in the design of new immunotherapies for RA patients.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We thank Medjaden Bioscience Limited for assisting in the preparation of this manuscript. This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30972610 and 81273240), Jilin Province Science and Technology Agency (No. 200705128 and 20110716), the Health Department Research Projects in Jilin Province (2009Z054), Bethune B plan of Jilin University.
DISCLOSURE No competing financial interests exist.
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