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Could Lymphocyte Profiling be Useful to Diagnose Systemic Autoimmune Diseases?
Guillermo Carvajal Alegria1,2, Pierre Gazeau1, Sophie Hillion2,3
1Service de Rhumatologie, Hôpital de la Cavale Blanche, CHRU Brest, BP 824, 29609, Brest cedex, France.
Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology
|May 6, 2017
Summary
Assessing lymphocyte subsets like B, T, and natural killer (NK) cells in blood may aid systemic autoimmune disease diagnosis. Advanced methods like mass cytometry could enable global profiling for disease reclassification.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Autoimmune Diseases
- Flow Cytometry
Background:
- Systemic autoimmune diseases involve B, T, and natural killer (NK) cells.
- Blood lymphocyte subset distribution may aid diagnosis.
- Current diagnostic utility is limited by heterogeneity and small cohorts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of lymphocyte subsets in systemic autoimmune disease pathophysiology.
- To evaluate the diagnostic potential of lymphocyte subset analysis.
- To explore future directions in lymphocyte profiling for disease classification.
Main Methods:
- Review of published studies on lymphocyte subset distribution in systemic autoimmune diseases.
- Analysis of flow cytometry data for B cells, T cells, and NK cells.
- Consideration of emerging techniques like mass cytometry and bioinformatics.
Main Results:
- Primary Sjögren's syndrome shows altered B cell populations.
- Rheumatoid arthritis exhibits reduced regulatory T cells.
- Systemic lupus erythematosus often presents with increased transitional B cells, plasma cells, and decreased CD4/CD8 ratio and NK cells.
Conclusions:
- Lymphocyte subset analysis shows potential for diagnosing and classifying systemic autoimmune diseases.
- Advanced techniques like mass cytometry offer promise for global lymphocyte profiling.
- Future research may integrate these profiles into disease reclassification.
