Alterations of T cells and cytokines in the patients with SSc and HCs
| Total SSc (n = 19) | lSSc (n = 10) | dSSc (n = 9) | HCs (n = 6) | p Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Values are mean (SD). | |||||
| The p values are for patients with SSc compared with HCs. | |||||
| For comparison with the control group: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001. For comparison between diffuse and limited SSc: †p<0.05. | |||||
| BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; dSSc, diffuse systemic sclerosis; HC, healthy controls; IL-1β, interleukin 1β; lSSc, limited systemic sclerosis; SSc, systemic sclerosis; TNFα, tumour necrosis factor α. | |||||
| CD4+ cells in blood | 63 (3.3)* | 59.9 (3.0) | 65.1 (3.9)* | 54.3 (3.1) | <0.05 |
| CD8+ cells in blood | 22.7 (3.4) | 26.8 (3.6) | 28.8 (3.2) | 28.9 (9.3) | NS |
| CD4/CD8 ratio in blood | 2.8 (0.2) | 2.2 (0.2) | 2.3 (0.3) | 1.8 (0.8) | <0.05 |
| TNFα concentration in serum (pg/ml) | 38.6 (7.6)** | 40.1 (6.8)** | 36.9 (8.4)** | 7.5 (2.1) | <0.01 |
| IL-1β concentration in serum (pg/ml) | 21.6 (9.4)** | 23.4 (10.9)** | 19.7 (7.6)** | 9.2 (6.2) | <0.05 |
| CD4+ cells in BALF | 51.1 (4.8) | 50.7 (4.8) | 51.6 (5.3) | 51.9 (4.4) | NS |
| CD8+ cells in BALF | 35.7 (2.6)* | 36.2 (2.6)* | 35.2 (2.6)* | 25.1 (3.1) | <0.05 |
| CD4/CD8 ratio in BALF | 1.4 (0.1)** | 1.3 (0.1)** | 1.4 (0.1)** | 2.1 (0.2) | <0.01 |
| TNFα concentration in BALF (pg/ml) | 136.7 (50.7)*** | 147.1 (53.4)*** | 125.1 (47.5)***† | 41.1 (34.4) | <0.001 |
| IL-1β concentration in BALF (pg/ml) | 49.4 (11.9)** | 51.2 (11.6)** | 47.5 (12.3)** | 11.3 (11.5) | <0.01 |