Treg/Th17 cell balance and phytohaemagglutinin activation of T lymphocytes in peripheral blood of systemic sclerosis patients

Table 1 Clinical data of patients with systemic sclerosis, enrolled in the study

Patient No.	Gender	Age	Form	Stage	Active SSc	Visceral damage	Autoantibodies1	Treatment regimen
1	M	50	dcSSc	Intermediate	Yes	No	Speckled	PMP
2	F	49	dcSSc	Late	No	E	Anti-Scl70	MTX
3	F	55	dcSSc	Intermediate	No	E	Speckled	MP
4	F	58	dcSSc	Late	Yes	PF	Anti-Scl70	PMP, PCYP
5	F	44	dcSSc	Early	Yes	PF	Anti-Scl70	DPA, MP
6	F	27	lcSSc	Early	Yes	No	Anti-Scl70	DPA, MP, TCZ
7	F	48	dcSSc	Early	Yes	PF	Anti-Scl70	DPA, MP
8	F	37	lcSSc	Early	Yes	No	Anti-Ro52	CHQ
9	F	65	dcSSc	Late	No	No	Anti-CENP-A, Anti-CENP-B	MP, CHQ
10	F	36	lcSSc	Intermediate	Yes	No	Speckled	PMP, PCYP, DPA
11	F	47	dcSSc	Early	Yes	SRC	Anti-Scl70	PMP, PCYP
12	F	32	lcSSc	Early	Yes	PF	Speckled	MP, TCZ
13	F	62	dcSSc	Early	Yes	No	Speckled	PMP, PCYP
14	F	27	lcSSc	Late	Yes	No	Anti-PM/Scl-100	MTX
15	F	73	lcSSc	Intermediate	No	PF	Speckled	MP, MTX
16	F	32	dcSSc	Late	Yes	PF	Anti-Scl70, Anti-PM/Scl-75	PMP, PCYP
17	F	60	dcSSc	Late	Yes	No	Speckled	PMP, PCYP
18	F	34	dcSSc	Early	Yes	No	Anti-Scl70	MP, MTX
19	F	56	lcSSc	Late	No	E	Anti-CENP-B	MP
20	F	53	lcSSc	Early	Yes	No	Anti-PM/Scl-75	MP, AZA
21	F	30	lcSSc	Late	Yes	No	Speckled	MP, DPA
22	F	61	dcSSc	Late	No	E, PF, PH	Anti-Scl70	MP
23	F	39	lcSSc	Early	No	No	Anti-CENP-B	MTX
24	F	56	lcSSc	Intermediate	No	E	Speckled	MP, MTX

¹In cases where no SSc specific autoantibody was detected, the staining pattern of patient’s serum on indirect immunofluorescence is shown. F: Female; M: Male; E: Esophageal dysmotility; PF: Pulmonary fibrosis; PH: Pulmonary hypertension; SRC: Scleroderma renal crisis; MP: Methylprednisolone; PMP: Pulse MP; MTX: Methotrexate; CYP: Cyclophosphamide; PCYP: Pulse CYP; DPA: D-penicillamin; CHQ: Chloroquine; TCZ: Tocilizumab; AZA: Azathioprine.

Table 2 T helper subsets in systemic sclerosis patients and healthy controls

T cell subpopulation (%)	SSc patients	Healthy controls	P value
CD4+Foxp3+	14.24 ± 1.39 (5.68-28.73)	11.04 ± 1.22 (3.55-20.84)
CD4+CD25-Foxp3+	10.22 ± 1.21 (2.09-23.09)	6.88 ± 0.91 (1.42-12.79)	0.052
CD4+CD25+Foxp3+	4.02 ± 0.52 (0.71-10.77)	4.16 ± 0.53 (2.08-8.05)
CD4+CD25+	6.30 ± 0.68 (1.40-13.36)	9.36 ± 1.08 (2.84-19.60)	0.016
Th17	18.13 ± 1.55 (9.18-32.64)	13.73 ± 1.21 (4.30-20.99)	0.031

Data are expressed as means ± SE. SSc: Systemic sclerosis.

Table 3 Circulating cytokines in systemic sclerosis patients and healthy controls

Cytokine	SSc patients	Healthy controls	P value
IL-10, pg/mL	2.83 ± 0.44 (0.10-6.90)	0.68 ± 0.51 (0.00-5.20)	0.008
IL-17A, pg/mL	6.30 [2.50-15.60] (0.20-124.90)	0.00 [0.00-0.05] (0.00-1.36)	< 0.001
TGF-β1, ng/mL	19.94 ± 3.35 (0-52.80)	10.03 ± 2.25 (1.16-21.80)	0.02
IL-6, pg/mL	2.10 [1.05-4.60] (0.45-198.10)	0 (0.00-0.27)	< 0.001

Data represents means ± SE (range) or medians [IQR] (range). SSc: Systemic sclerosis; IL: Interleukin; TGF: Tissue growth factor.