Increased Levels of IL-2 and IL-4 Promote Th17/Treg Immune Imbalance in Patients with Behcet's Disease

Yue Liu¹, Yan Yang ¹, Rui Su ², Xinyu Zheng ³, Xiao-feng Li ⁴ and Cai-hong Wang ⁵, ¹Department of Rheumatology, the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China (People's Republic), ²Department of Rheumatology, the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Tai yuan, Shanxi, China (People's Republic), ³Department of Rheumatology, the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan , Shanxi, China, Tai Yuan, China (People's Republic), ⁴The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China (People's Republic), ⁵The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Tai Yuan, China (People's Republic)

Meeting: 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting

Keywords: Behcet's disease, cytokines, Th17 cells and Regulatory T cells

Session Information

Date: Monday, November 11, 2019

Title: Vasculitis – Non-ANCA-Associated & Related Disorders Poster III: Behçet’s Disease & Other Vasculitides

Session Type: Poster Session (Monday)

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: Behcet’s disease(BD) is a multisystem inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology.Improved understandings indicate the Th17/Treg immune imbalance may play a critical role in BD’s pathogenesis, which was accompanied by an increased levels of IL-17 and IL-23.The aim of this study was to examine associations between levels of a broad selection of cytokines and Th17/Treg immune balance in patients with BD.

Methods: The study included 67 BD patients and 66 healthy controls. The circulating levels of lymphocyte subpopulations were detected by flow cytometry for all participants.Serum levels of the following 6 cytokines were determined in the same samples using a cytometric beads array: IL-2, IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,INF-γ and TNF-α for all BD patients.

Results: A significant increase in the Th1 cells and Th17 cells and the ratio of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg were observed. When patients with BD were divided into active (patient index score ≥ 2 in the BDCAF) and inactive groups, the absolute counts of Th17 cells and the ratio of Th17/Treg tended to be higher in patients with active BD, and this observation was statistically insigniﬁcant. A significantly positive correlation was found between the investigated cytokines and Th17/Treg:i.e.,IL-2(r=0.261,P=0.033) and IL-4(r=0.292,P=0.016)(P≥0.2 for all other cytokines),and Th17 cells(r=0.246,P=0.045vs r=0.291,P=0.017).

Conclusion: The T cell homeostasis perturbation,especially Th1 and Th17 expansion and Th17/Treg immune imbalance,may serve as the cornerstone of BD pathogenesis.Immune responses associated with increased levels of IL-2 and IL-4 may promote Th17/Treg immune imbalance.

Figure1:Characteristics of the absolute numbers proportions of CD4+ T cells in the PB of patients with BD. Lymphocytes in the PB of the healthy control -n=66- and BD group -n=67- were assessed by flow cytometry. -a and c- The absolute number Th1 cells and Th17 cells were significantly increased. –
b and d- Reduction of Th 2cells and Treg cells were observed. -e and f-The ratio of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg were evidently increased.-g and h-The absolute counts of Th17 cells and the ratio of Th17/Treg in active BD patients were higher than inactive.*P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001 vs healthy control group.

Figure 2:Correlation between the level of cytokines and the ratio of Th17/Treg,the absolute of Th17 cells in patients with Behcet’s disease,which were calculated by Sperman’s rank correlation.-a and b- Two cytokines were positively correlated with Th17/Treg:i.e.,IL-2-r=0.261,P=0.033- and IL-4-r=0.292,P=0.016–P≥0.2 for all other cytokines-.Th17/Treg was not correlated with IL-6,IL-10,IFN-γ and TNF-α.-g and h-The levels of IL-2 and IL-4 are positively associated with the absolute counts of Th17 cells-r=0.246,P=0.045vs r=0.291,P=0.017-.

Disclosure: Y. Liu, None; Y. Yang, None; R. Su, None; X. Zheng, None; X. Li, None; C. Wang, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Liu Y, Yang Y, Su R, Zheng X, Li X, Wang C. Increased Levels of IL-2 and IL-4 Promote Th17/Treg Immune Imbalance in Patients with Behcet’s Disease [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019; 71 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/increased-levels-of-il-2-and-il-4-promote-th17-treg-immune-imbalance-in-patients-with-behcets-disease/. Accessed .

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