Peripheral blood CD4~+ CD25~+regulatory T cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of peripheral blood CD4~+,CD25~+and CD4~+CD25~+ cellls in patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA),and their roles in the pathogenesis of RA.Methods The percentage and fluorescence intensities of peripheral blood CD4~+,CD25~+ and CD4~+CD25~+ subpopulations from 22 RA and 18 normal controls were measured with flow cytometry,Labolatory data were analyzed in combination with clinical data.The CD25~+ cells whose fluorescence intensities were equal to or more than 10 were defined as the CD25high cells.Results There was no significant difference in the percentage of peripheral blood CD4~+CD25~+,CD4~+CD25high and CD25~+ cells between RA patients and normal control group (10.33%±4.41% vs 8.92%±3.21%,0.57%±0.39% vs 0.44%±0.22% and 14.17%±5.05% vs 13.91%±3.38 %,respectively,P0.05),however CD4~+ T cells were higher in RA patients than that in normal control group(39.13%±3.77% vs 33.83%±7.22%,P0.05).Fluorescence intensities of CD4~+ and CD25~+ in active RA patients were higher as compared with non-active RA patients and normal control group(7.69 %±3.44 % vs 5.20 %±0.91 %,3.27 %±0.77 % vs 2.61 %±0.24 %,P0.05).Conclusion Peripheral blood CD4~+CD25~+ regulatory T cells is not important in the pathogenesis and severity judgement of RA,while CD4~+ cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of RA.