›› 2014, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (2): 140-143.

• Original Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

T helper lymphocyte subsets and cytokines in children with systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis 

XU Lingyun, TU Zhiqiang, XUE Haiyan, CAO Lanfang    

  1. (Department of Pediatrics, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200001, China)
  • Received:2013-08-30 Online:2014-02-15 Published:2014-02-15

Abstract: Objectives To explore the changes of T helper (Th) lymphocyte and its related factors in children with syste-mic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA). Methods A total of 36 SoJIA inpatients, hospitalized from January 2012 to June 2013, were divided into active phase group and remission group. In addition, 20 healthy children were selected as normal controls. Th1, Th2 and Th17 cell ratios in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were detected and compared between each group by flow cytometry. Serum interferon-γ (INF-γ), interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-17 (IL-17) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results The proportions of Th17 cells over CD3+CD8- cell were (3.30±2.15)%, (1.78±1.14)% and (1.22±1.14)% in active phase group, remission group and control group. The difference among three groups was significant (H=14.437, P=0.001), and the active phase group had higher proportion of Th17 than the other two groups (P<0.05). The ratio of Th1 and Th2 over CD3+CD8- cell between each group was not significantly different (P> 0.05). The serum IL-17 levels were (125.82±45.87) pg/ml, (57.79±25.84)pg/ml and(50.02±18.37)pg/ml in active phase group, remission group and control group with significant difference among three groups (F=31.82, P=0.000), and the active phase group had higher level of IL-17 than the other two groups (P<0.05). But serum INF-γ and IL-4 were not significantly different between each group (P>0.05). Conclusions Acquired cellular immunity is involved in pathogenesis of SoJIA, the increased proportion of Th1 and Th17 cell and the changes of related cytokines seem to correlate with active phage of SoJIA.