Subsets of activated T cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: the relation to cell cycle.

The correlation among the various markers of activated T cells (soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL-2R), HLA-DR+ and HLA-DP+ T cells, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) positive lymphocytes) were examined in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and related to the cell cycle. The concentration of sIL-2R and the proportion of HLA-DR+ T cells, HLA-DP+ T cells or PCNA+ lymphocytes were increased significantly as compared to that in normal subjects. And, the concentrations of sIL-2R correlated with the proportions of PCNA+ lymphocytes, but not with the proportions of HLA-DR+ T cells, HLA-DP+ T cells. The correlation between sIL-2R and PCNA+ lymphocytes was attributed to both indicators being increased during the G1B or S phase in normal T cells upon stimulation by phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Upon cell cycle analysis it was learned that activated T cells could be found in the G1A and the S phases.