Aberrant frequency of circulating IL-21+ T follicular helper cells in patients with primary focal segmental
Jing Liu1, Yanbo Wang2, Zhihui Qu3
1Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration & Transplantation of the Ministry of Education, Genetic Diagnosis Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, 150 Ji Mo Road, Shanghai 200120, China.
Abstract:
Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells have been implicated in the pathophysiology of numerous diseases. This study investigated the hypothetical function of peripheral blood IL-21+ Tfh cells in the etiology of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Tfh cell subsets were identified via flow cytometry in PBMCs from 15 patients with FSGS and 9 healthy controls (HCs). Moreover, a cytometric bead array (CBA) was used to determine the level of IL-21 in the serum. The proportions of IL-21+ cTfh cells, IL-21+ PD-1+ cTfh cells and serum IL-21 were lower in FSGS patients than in HCs. In FSGS patients, the serum IL-21 concentration was positively correlated with the frequency of IL-21+ cTfh cells and IL-21+ PD-1+ cTfh cells. The frequencies of IL-21+ cTfh cells and IL-21+ PD-1+ cTfh cells were negatively associated with 24-h urine protein but positively correlated with eGFR, serum albumin and serum IgG. CONCLUSIONS: An aberrant frequency of IL-21+ Tfh cells was detected in FSGS patients, which may provide a better understanding of FSGS pathogenesis.
