The Clinical Significance of CCR7 Expression on Lymphocyte in the Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective To explore the role and the clinical significance of CCR7 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Methods 30 patients with RA(RA group)and 20 healthy persons(normal control group) were selected.The expressions of CCR7 on the peripheral blood lymphocytes in the two groups were detected by flow cytometry(FCM).Moreover,we calculated disease activity score(DAS28) of every patient with RA and analyzed the relativity of CCR7 expression and the disease activity.Results The levels of CCR7 in CD+4T and CD+8 T cells from RA group〔(74.5±13.7)% and(57.9±11.8)%〕were higher than that from normal controls〔(16.7±2.0)% and(16.6±1.6)%〕.The difference was significant(P0.01).The level of CCR7 in CD+4T cells from RA group was higher than that in CD+8T cells,the difference was significant(P0.05).The level of CCR7 in CD+4 T cell was positively related to DAS28(r=0.836,P0.01).Conclusion The abnormal expression of CCR7 is increased on peripheral blood lymphocytes from RA patients,especially on CD+4 T cells.The abnormal expression of CCR7 on CD+4T cells is probably one of the key factors resulting in the disease development of RA.