Peripheral CD4CD8 Double Positive T Cells: A Potential Marker to Evaluate Kidney Damage Susceptibility During SLE

Abstract

Background: Lupus nephritis (LN) has a high incidence in Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, but there is a lack of sensitive predictive markers and mechanisms. The purpose of the study is to reveal the association between the CD4+CD8+ double positive T lymphocytes (DPT) and lupus nephritis (LN), and to investigate the immune mechanism of LN. Methods: The study is composed of 395 samples from the General Hospital of Western Theater Command. Collected patients include SLE, lupus nephritis (LN), nephritic syndrome (NS) and nephritis patients. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were performed by the Flow cytometry method. Biochemical measurements were performed in accordance with the recommendations proposed by national center for clinical laboratories.Results: The proportions of DPT cells in LN group were significantly higher than in SLE group (t=4.012, p<0.001), NS group (t=3.240, p=0.001) and nephritis group (t=2.57, p=0.011). In LN group, the risk of kidney damage increased significantly in the DPT cell proportion dependent manner. In cases of high DPT cells proportion, the risk of LN was 5.136 times higher than when the proportion DPT cell was within the normal range. Moreover, hypertriglyceridemia and hyperuricemia were also independent risk factors.Conclusion: The proportion of DPT cells was a potential marker to evaluate LN susceptibility. When assessing the risk of kidney damage during SLE with DPT cell proportion, we can effectively exclude the interference of NS and nephritis.