Correlation analysis of cytokine levels and peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets in systemic vascular inflammatory disease

To measure the levels of T-cell subsets andcytokines in the peripheral blood of patients with systemicvascular inflammatory disease and to analyse the influenceof different clinical characteristics of systemic vascularinflammatory disease patients on the levels of T-cell subsetsand cytokines in the peripheral blood.

The case group included 80 patients with systemicvascular inflammatory disease who were diagnosed and trea -ted at our hospital between January 2021 and December2024. The control group consisted of 40 healthy volunteersrecruited from our hospital's health assessment centre. Theproportions of helper T-cell (Th)1, Th17, and regulatory Tcell (Treg) subsets in peripheral blood were analysed usingflow cytometry. Serum levels of cytokine, including interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-g (IFN-γ), tumour necrosis factor-a(TNF-α), IL-4, IL-10, IL-17, and IL-6, were measured usingenzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Compared with the control group, the expressionlevels of total T lymphoid subsets and CD8+ T and Th1 cellsin patients with systemic vascular inflammatory disease weresignificantly higher, and there was no statistically significantdifference in Th, Th17, or Treg cell expression between thegroups (P>0.05). However, there were statistically significantdifferences between the two groups [68.75 (54.23, 80.32)]and [72.10 (62.23, 86.45)], [23.44 (12.89, 33.76)] and[31.46 (20.13, 45.26)], [10.67 (8.23, 12.35)] and [10.26,17.96 [25.39)], Z=-3.13, -4.54, -3.97 (all P values<0.05).Compared with those in the control group, patients with systemic vascular inflammatory disease had significantly higherserum levels of IL-17, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-4, and IFN-γ, whereastheir IL-10 levels were significantly lower. The differenceswere statistically significant (Z=-4.32, -5.01, -8.18, -8.70,-3.48, and -8.30). The P values were all <0.05. Comparedwith that in patients without related manifestations, IL-6expression was noticeably higher in systemic vascular inflammatory disease patients with arthritic symptoms and thosewith active systemic vascular inflammatory disease, and thedifference was statistically significant {pg/mL: [3.23 (2.98,5.35)] compared with [10.51 (6.72, 23.21)], [6.32 (4.79,8.93)] compared with [9.68 (6.97, 18.73)], Z=5.47, 8.76,P values <0.05}. Compared with those in patients withoutrelevant clinical manifestations, TNF-α levels were significantly higher in patients with arthritis, ocular, or digestive tractmanifestations, and in patients with active systemic vascularinflammatory disease, whereas IFN-γ levels were substantiallyhigher in systemic vascular inflammatory disease patientswith digestive system lesions. The differences were statistically significant {pg/mL: [7.74 (6.89, 10.19)] compared with[39.84 (30.37, 50.61)], [6.12 (5.36, 9.89)] compared with[31.35 (15.71, 30.46)], [6.49 (4.78, 10.21)] comparedwith [19.89 (14.36, 36.21)]. [5.89 (4.61, 8.96)] than[27.91 (15.32, 37.81)], [6.89 (5.43, 14.86)] than [26.79(15.41, 31.56)], Z= 7.70, 6.84, 6.94, 9.47, 5.70, P values<0.05}. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the expression levels of IL-4 and IL-17 between systemic vascular inflammatory disease patients with and without relevant clinical manifestations (P>0.05).

Patients with systemic vascular inflammatorydisease exhibit an imbalance of T lymphocyte subsets andcytokines, and disease activity and clinical classificationmay also involve such imbalances.