Activated inducible co-stimulator-positive (ICOS+ ) programmed death 1-positive (PD-1+ ) Tfh cells indicate disease activity and severity in ulcerative colitis patients.

In this study, we recruited 68 UC patients and 34 healthy controls. Circulating ICOS+ , PD-1+ and ICOS+ PD-1+ Tfh subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry. Totally 12 active UC patients achieving remission after treatment with 5-aminosalicylic acid were followed up and Tfh subset changes were analyzed. Serum IgG, CRP, IL-4 and IL-21 levels and B cell subsets were analyzed and Mayo scores were calculated. Correlation analyses were performed between Tfh subsets and the clinical indicators. ROC curves were generated to evaluate the efficiency of Tfh subsets for disease monitoring. We found that levels of ICOS+ , PD-1+ and ICOS+ PD-1+ Tfh cells were significantly increased in active UC and significantly decreased when achieving clinical remission. Activated ICOS+ PD-1+ Tfh cells were positively correlated with serum CRP and Mayo scores. Furthermore, ICOS+ PD-1+ Tfh cells were significantly related to circulating new memory B cells and plasmablasts, as well as serum IgG, IL-4 and IL-21.ROC analyses showed that when ICOS+ PD-1+ Tfh cells are used in combination with PD-1+ Tfh cells, the diagnostic efficacy in discriminating active UC from stable remission patients is higher than that of any one used alone, with area under curve (AUC) value 0.931. Our findings suggested that increased ICOS+ PD-1+ Tfh cells are associated with the activation of B cells in the pathogenesis of UC, and may be a potential biomarker for UC disease monitoring. PMID: 32621310 [PubMed - as supplied by...
Source: Clinical and Developmental Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Clin Exp Immunol Source Type: research