Expression And Significance Of NK Cells In Systemic Sclerosis

Objective:1.To Compare the difference of NK cell level in peripheral blood of patients with systemic sclerosis and healthy controls;2.To investigate the correlation between peripheral blood NK cell level and immune function in patients with systemic sclerosis;3.To investigate the correlation between peripheral blood NK cell level and organ involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis.Methods:The clinical data of 79 patients with systemic sclerosis admitted to the Rheumatology and Immunology Department of the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University and 80healthy controls admitted to the Health Examination Center of the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University during the same period from June 2018 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.Including basic data(gender,age,BMI,course of disease,organ involvement),laboratory data(ESR,CRP,C3,C4,LDH,HBDH,CK,CKMB)and antibodies(anti-SCL-70 antibody,anti-centromere antibody,anti-nuclear antibody),cytokines,imaging data.Compared the difference of NK cell level in peripheral blood between SSc patients and healthy group.Analyzed the correlation between the number of NK cells in peripheral blood of SSc patients and the inflammatory indicators(ESR,CRP,C3,C4),biochemical indicators(CK,CKMB,LDH,HBDH),antibodies(anti-SCL-70antibody,anti-centromere antibody,anti-nuclear antibody),cytokines,and organs(skin,lung,gastrointestinal tract,kidney,heart,and joint)involvement.Statistical methods Statistical software SPSS 23.0 was used to analyze the data.Independent sample t test was used to compare the two samples conforming to normal distribution.Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of two samples with non-normal distribution,Chi-square test was used for organ involvement,and Pearson correlation analysis was used for correlation analysis between variables.P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant difference.Results:1.The absolute count of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets(total T cells,total B cells,Th cells,Ts cells,CD3~-CD16~+CD56~+NK cells,Treg cells)in SSc patients was significantly lower than that in healthy group,with statistical significance(p<0.05);the percentage of NK cells was significantly lower than that of healthy group,the difference was statistically significant(p<0.05).2.There was no significant correlation between the number of NK cells and the disease activity index;79 patients with SSc were divided into two groups according to the absolute NK cell count level.The difference of disease inflammatory indexes between the two groups with high NK cell level and low NK cell level was not statistically significant(p>0.05).3.There was no correlation between the number of NK cells and cytokines.4.The decrease of NK cell number was not correlated with positive anti-SCL-70antibody(χ2=2.871,p=0.090),positive anti-centromere antibody(χ2=0.214,p=0.643)and positive anti-nuclear antibody(χ2=0.242,p=0.623)(p>0.05).5.The decrease of NK cell number was significantly associated with skin involvement in SSc patients(χ2=3.889,p=0.049,p<0.05).The decrease of NK cell number was associated with lung involvement in SSc patients(χ2=6.002,p=0.014,p<0.05).The decrease of NK cell number was associated with heart involvement in SSc patients(χ2=9.662,p=0.002,p<0.05),which was statistically significant.Conclusion:The level of peripheral blood NK cells in patients with SSc is lower than that in healthy control group,which may be related to anti-scl-70 antibody.Patients with low level of NK cells are more prone to skin,lungs and heart involvement.It is revealed that NK cells may play an vital role in the immune pathogenesis of SSc.