Lupus & antiphospholipid syndrome
Low CD4 + T cell count is related to specific anti-nuclear antibodies, IFNα protein positivity and disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus pregnancy
Authors' conclusion
Lymphocyte subset counts are lower in SLE compared to healthy pregnancies, which seems to be a feature of the disease per se and not affected by pregnancy.
Study context
- Population
- Pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and healthy pregnant controls; late postpartum samples from 19 women with SLE19 SLE with postpartum samples
- Participants
- 80 vs 51
- Exposure
- Pregnant women with SLE vs healthy controls
- SLEn = 80
- Healthy controls (HC)n = 51reference
- Outcome
- Lymphocyte subset counts (CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, B cells, NK cells) and their relation to autoantibody profiles, IFNα protein and disease activity
Methodological detailsrepeated blood sampling during pregnancy, flow cytometry, principal component analysis
- Repeated blood sampling during pregnancy
- Flow cytometry
- Principal component analysis
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Lymphocyte subset counts during pregnancy · throughout pregnancy
- SLE had lower counts of all lymphocyte subsets vs HC throughout pregnancy
- In SLE, counts did not differ during pregnancy vs postpartum
- CD4+ T cell counts lower in women positive for all anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) fine specificities in cluster one (anti-dsDNA/anti-Sm/anti-RNP/anti-Sm/RNP/anti-chromatin) vs negative
- B cell numbers lower in anti-dsDNA and anti-Sm positive vs negative women
- CD4+ T cell and B cell counts lower with moderate/high vs no/low disease activity
- CD4+ T cell count lower in IFNα protein positive vs negative women
- CD4+ T cell count unrelated to treatment
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Low CD4 + T cell count is related to specific anti-nuclear antibodies, IFNα protein positivity and disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus pregnancy. Arthritis Res Ther. Published 9 March 2024. doi:10.
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