Metformin Combined with Conventional Therapy Increases Absolute Number of Regulatory T Cells in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Meihua Hao¹, Zhaoyun Liang², Xiaona Jing², Chong Gao³, Xiao-Feng Li⁴ and Junwei Chen², ¹The second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, TaiYuan, China, ²The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China, ³Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, Cambridge, MA, ⁴Rheumatology, the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

Meeting: 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Keywords: SLE and T-Regulatory Cells

Session Information

Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Title: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus – Clinical Poster III: Treatment

Session Type: ACR Poster Session C

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

Background/Purpose:To observe the clinical efficacy of metformin in the treatment of SLE and regulation of CD4+ Treg and Th17 cells.

Methods:Thirty-one patients with SLE, fulfilled the ACR 1997 standard, were enrolled in this study. Their average age was37.21±15.65 years, and disease duration was 58.33±56.48 months. They were administered with metformin£¨MET£©£¨250mg Bid£©combined with conventional therapy for 12 weeks. At week 0, week 6 and week 12, the absolute numbers of Th17 and Treg cells were assayed by flow cytometry and SLEDAI score and drug doses were collected.

Results:At week 0, 6 or 12 after metformin treatment combined with conventional therapy, the absolute number of Treg cells in 31 patients was 25.41£¨£©,25.78£¨£©(P=0.054), or 21.09,while that of Th17 cells was 5.96£¨£©,5.60£¨£©, or 4.56£¨£©. The dosage of prednisone in SLE patients was decreased from 16(28.0)mg/d to 11.15(28.10) mg/d (P=0.019) or6.5(19.5)mg/d (P=0.003).

Conclusion:Our findings suggest that metformin can effectively up-regulate Treg cells as well as increase Th17 cells in a short time and can reduce the usage of prednisone.

Disclosure: M. Hao, None; Z. Liang, None; X. Jing, None; C. Gao, None; X. F. Li, None; J. Chen, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Hao M, Liang Z, Jing X, Gao C, Li XF, Chen J. Metformin Combined with Conventional Therapy Increases Absolute Number of Regulatory T Cells in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018; 70 (suppl 9). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/metformin-combined-with-conventional-therapy-increases-absolute-number-of-regulatory-t-cells-in-patients-with-systemic-lupus-erythematosus/. Accessed .

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