1. Potential involvement of IL-9 and Th9 cells in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Author
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Ciccia, Francesco, Guggino, Giuliana, Rizzo, Aroldo, Manzo, Antonio, Vitolo, Barbara, La Manna, Marco Pio, Giardina, Giuseppina, Sireci, Guido, Dieli, Francesco, Maurizio Montecucco, Carlo, Alessandro, Riccardo, and Triolo, Giovanni
- Subjects
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T cells , *ACADEMIC medical centers , *ANALYSIS of variance , *BIOMARKERS , *BIOPSY , *FLOW cytometry , *IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY , *INTERLEUKINS , *POLYMERASE chain reaction , *RESEARCH funding , *RHEUMATOID arthritis , *STATISTICS , *DATA analysis , *REVERSE transcriptase polymerase chain reaction , *DATA analysis software , *MANN Whitney U Test , *PHYSIOLOGY - Abstract
Objective. IL-9 has been shown to be upregulated before the clinical onset of articular disease in RA. The exact role of IL-9 and Th9 cells in RA, however, has not yet been adequately studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of IL-9 and IL-9-expressing cells in RA patients. Methods. IL-9, IL-9R, PU.1, IL-9, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), IL-4 and TGF-α expression was assessed by real-time-PCR in the synovial tissues of RA and OA patients. IL-9, IL-9R, IL-4, TSLP and TGF-β were also investigated by immunohistochemistry. Peripheral CD4+ T cell subsets were studied by flow cytometry analysis before and after incubation with citrullinated peptides. Results. IL-9 was overexpressed in RA synovial tissues and correlated with the degree of histological organization of B and T cells in ectopic lymphoid structures. The majority of IL-9-producing cells were identified as CD3+ cells. Increased mRNA and protein expression of IL-9R, IL-4, TSLP and TGF-β was also observed in RA synovial tissue. Blood peripheral Th9 cells were expanded by citrullinated peptides. Conclusion. These results indicate that Th9 cells and IL-9 were frequently detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and synovia of RA patients. A possible pathogenic role for Th9 in RA is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
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