Dynamic Relationship between Hydrolytic Enzymes and the Immune System in Rheumatic Diseases

We performed longitudinal studies on patients with two different types of rheumatic diseases, systemic erythematodes (SLE)-like and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-like, to elucidate the relationship between hydrolytic enzymes and immunological disturbances. The plasma levels of 9 hydrolytic enzymes and subpopulations of T-cells, OKT4 and OKT8 cells, in peripheral blood were checked periodically for 6 months. Analysis of the obtained data by a method of spectral analysis utilizing Akaike's autoregressive approach clearly demonstrated the existence of a dynamic network between the hydrolytic enzymes and the immune system. In testing the behavior of this network, we obtained data suggesting that the response of OKT4 cells when an impulse is given to OKT8, is abnormal in the SLE-like syndrome, and that this abnormality may be related to the malfunction of suppresser T-cells in this pathological condition. Principal component analysis suggested that the behaviors of kallikrein and carboxypeptidase B are quite different between the two types of immunological disturbances. The network relationships between the hydrolytic enzymes and the immune system seem to play important roles in the pathophysiology of rheumatic diseases.