Expression of 4-1BB in the peripheral blood T lymphocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective To investigate the expression and role of costimulatory molecule 4-1BB on T cells of patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Metheds The expression of 4-1BB on T lymphocytes from 30 RA patients and 20 healthy controls were detected by flow cytometry.Results The expression of 4-1BB on CD4~+T and CD8~+T lymphocytes from RA patients was significantly higher than that of normal control(18.56±4.08,10.33±2.13 vs 1.24±0.12,0.87±0.09,P＜0.01).There was more expression of 4-1BB on CD4~+T and CD8~+ T lymphocytes stimulated by anti-CD3 antibody from RA patients(33±4 vs 21±8,P＜0.01).In addition,the ra- tio of CD4~+T/CD8+T in RA patients was higher than that of normal controls and was positively correlated with 4-1BB~+CD4~+T cell.The expression of 4-1BB on CD4~+T in RA patients was positively correlated with the level of ESR and IgA(r=0.476,P＜0.05;r=0.659,P＜0.05).Conclusion The costimulatory molecule 4-1BB is ab- normally expressed in T lymphocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.The abnormal expression of 4-1BB on T lymphocytes may play an important role in the development of RA.The expression of 4-1BB on CD4~+T cell may take part in the inflammation of RA.