ABSTRACT
Objective:
To investigate the difference of
lymphocyte subsets between
elderly patients with
rheumatoid arthritis and non-
elderly patients and its
clinical significance.
Methods:
A total of 124
patients with
rheumatoid arthritis in Affiliated
Hospital of Nantong
University from January, 2017 to December, 2019 were enrolled.The
patients were divided into
elderly group(≥60 years old, 34 cases)and non-
elderly group(<60 years old, 90 cases).
Rheumatoid arthritis activity(DAS-28)scoring was performed for each
patient.
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs)were extracted by
Ficoll density
centrifugation.
Lymphocytes were labeled and detected by 18-
color flowcytometry with more than 30 fluorescent
antibodies.
Results:
DAS-28 scoring showed that the
disease activity score of the
elderly group(4.56±1.89)was higher than that of the non-
elderly group(3.37±1.49)( t=3.633, P<0.001).
Flow cytometry showed that
MAIL%T(
mucus-associated
lymphoid tissue T cell subset)( Z=-2.798, P=0.005), Tn%CD8
T cells(initial CD8
T cells)( Z=-2.179, P=0.029), VD2% T(V&
delta;2+ T, γ&
delta;
T cell subtype)( Z=-2.806, P=0.005), PD1-CD28-%Th( Z=-2.050, P=0.040)and
IGM+ D-%B( Z=-2.376, P=0.017)were lower in the
elderly group than in the non-
elderly group.While, CD45+ CD27+ %CD8
T cells( Z=-3.069, P=0.002), abT%
T cell(αβ
T cells)( Z=-2.103, P=0.035), CD27-CD28+ %
T cells( Z=-2.341, P=0.019), ASC%PBMC( Z=-2.341, P=0.019)and ASC%CD19+ ( Z=-2.000, P=0.046)subgroup expression were higher in the
elderly group than in the non-
elderly group.
Conclusions:
The
disease activity of
elderly patients with
rheumatoid arthritis is significantly higher than that of younger
patients.The expressions of abT%T and CD4% abT in effector
T cells of
elderly patients with
rheumatoid arthritis are higher than those of younger
patients, while the expression of VD2% T is lower.The expression level of CD45RA+ CD27+ %CD8 T with cytotoxic effect is higher; However, the expression level of Tn%CD8 T in naive
cells is lower.