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Article Early rheumatoid arthritis is associated with diminished numbers of TH1 cells in stimulated peripheral blood. 1999
Mangge H, Felsner P, Herrmann J, el-Shabrawi Y, Liebmann P, Schauenstein K. · Department of Laboratory Medicine (Blocklabor III), University of Graz, School of Medicine, Austria. · Immunobiology. · Pubmed #10416135 No free full text.
Abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with an altered TH1/TH2 balance. Here we present first results with a technique to quantitate stimulated TH1 and TH2 subsets in whole blood by means of cytofluorimetric detection of intracytoplasmic TH1 and TH2 cytokines. A group of 10 patients suffering from initial stages of RA exhibited a significantly reduced percentage of TH1 cells (11.0 +/- 2.0%) in the peripheral blood as compared to 13 healthy, age matched controls (28.8 +/- 2.0%). The TH2 response, as determined by intracellular expression of IL-4, remained unchanged. The data may indicate a defect in the TH0-TH1 differentiation or/and a selective trapping of TH1 cells into the affected joints.
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