[Analysis of the profile of CD4+ cells in Behçet's disease]

The cell-mediated immune response and disorders of the cytokine-producing cells play an important role in the pathogenic mechanisms of Behçet's disease. Recently, CD4+ T helper cells have been categorized into at least two distinct subsets based on their profiles of cytokine production. We analyzed the number of interleukin (IL)-2 producing type 1 helper T (Th1) cells and IL-4 producing Th2 cells from 22 patients (male: 12, female: 10) with Behçet's disease and 19 normal controls (male: 9) by flow cytometric analysis. The patients with Behçet's disease were categorized into two groups by the activity of ocular inflammation; one group comprised the active cases (13 patients) and the other the inactive cases (9 patients). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients and normal controls were stimulated with immobilized anti-CD3 mAb for 6 hours and immunostained with anti IL-2 and anti IL-4 mAbs followed by fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conjugated 2nd Abs. The number of IL-2 producing CD4+ cells in Behçet's disease patients with active uveoretinitis was significantly higher than that from both inactive cases (p < 0.005) and controls (p < 0.01). In contrast, the number of IL-4 producing CD4+ cells showed no significant difference among the groups. These results may indicate that Th1 cells play an important role in the immunopathogenesis of ocular inflammation of Behçet's disease. Thus, analysis of Th subsets in Behçet's disease may be useful for management of the disease.