Alterations in CD8+CD45RA+CCR7− T cells as a potential biomarker for primary Sjögren's syndrome
Jie Pan,
Rongqiang Wu,
Liuyang He,
Yu Bai,
Jun Ding,
Yan Wang,
Shu Fan,
Zhengyu Zhang,
Ping Zhang,
Chunjian Qi
Affiliations
Jie Pan
Basic Research Center, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Rongqiang Wu
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Liuyang He
Basic Research Center, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Yu Bai
Basic Research Center, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Jun Ding
Basic Research Center, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Yan Wang
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Shu Fan
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Zhengyu Zhang
Department of Rheumatology, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Ping Zhang
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China
Chunjian Qi
Basic Research Center, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China; Corresponding author at: Basic Research Center, Changzhou Medical Center, The Second People's Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, China.
In this study, we found that the CD8+CD45RA+CCR7− T cell subpopulation was increased in the peripheral blood of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) compared with healthy donors. Moreover, both CD8+TIM-3+ T cells and CD8+CD45RA+CCR7− T cells were positively correlated with serum anti-SSA antibody concentrations in patients. In animal experiments, prolonged administration of β-glucan (whole glucan particle [WGP]) effectively reduced the onset and progression of pSS. Compared with the control group, the WGP-treated group showed a significant reduction in the proportions of CD4+PD-1+ T cells, CD4+TIM-3+ T cells, CD8+PD-1+ T cells, CD8+TIM-3+ T cells, and CD8+CD45RA+CCR7− T cells in the spleens and peripheral blood of non-obese diabetic mice. Notably, β-glucan exhibited therapeutic efficacy comparable to that of hydroxychloroquine sulfate, a conventional treatment for pSS. These findings suggest that the CD8+CD45RA+CCR7− T cell subpopulation may represent a promising new therapeutic target for the disease.
