Peripheral Blood Th1/Th17 Immune Cell Shift is Associated with Disease Activity and Severity of AQP4 Antibody Sero-Positive Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Fangzheng Cao,1,* Yiqi Wang,2,* Ruili Wei,3 Chunrong Li,2 Yifan Cheng,2 Yu Zhou,1 Tianyu Jin,1 Houwen Zhang,1 Luting Lin,4 Bin Xu5 1The Second Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, People’s Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Bin Xu, Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a rare recurrent autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. However, to date, the peripheral blood profile of the T helper cell subsets in NMOSD remains controversial and poorly understood. This study aimed to compare the levels of helper T cell subsets in the peripheral blood from patients with NMOSD in different phases of the disease and studied their correlation with the clinical severity of the disease.Patients and methods: We used flow cytometry with cellular membrane surface staining to measure the levels of helper T cell subsets in 50 patients with NMOSD during the attack (n = 25) and remission (n = 25) phases and in 21 healthy controls.Results: Patients with NMOSD had higher levels of Th1 and Th17 cells in the attack phase compared to parallel populations in the remission phase and healthy controls. Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg ratios were positively correlated with the severity of the disease in the attack phase of NMOSD. In contrast, Treg cell levels were negatively correlated with the severity of the disease in the attack phase in patients with NMOSD.Conclusion: The peripheral blood immune profile in NMOSD towards a Th1/Th17 cell-mediated pro-inflammatory immune response, which is associated with disease activity and severity of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.Keywords: neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, helper T cell, flow cytometry, lymphocyte subsets

Keywords

• neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder
• helper t cell
• flow cytometry
• lymphocyte subsets