文章基本信息

标题：Atorvastatin upregulates regulatory T cells and reduces clinical disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
本地全文：下载
作者：Ting-Ting Tang ; You Song ; Ying-Jun Ding 等
期刊名称：JLR Papers In Press
印刷版ISSN：0022-2275
电子版ISSN：1539-7262
出版年度：2011
卷号：52
期号：5
页码：1023-1032
DOI：10.1194/jlr.M010876
语种：English
出版社：American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
摘要：In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that regulatory T cells (T_reg) are involved in the immunomodulatory effects of statins on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The 12-week study cohort consisted of 55 RA patients and 42 control subjects allocated to either a group treated with atorvastatin (AT) (20 mg/day) or a non-AT group. T_reg numbers, suppressive function, serum inflammatory markers, and disease activity were evaluated before and after the therapy. Furthermore, the effects of AT on the frequency and suppressive function of T_reg were determined in vitro. Our data revealed that the suppressive function of T_reg from RA patients significantly decreased compared with that of control subjects. AT significantly reduced erythrosedimentation, C-reactive protein, and disease activity. Concomitantly, T_reg numbers and suppressive functions were significantly improved by AT. Consistent with the in vivo experiments, AT promoted the generation of T_reg from primary T cells and enhanced preexisting T_reg function in vitro. Moreover, we showed that PI3K-Akt-mTOR and ERK signal pathways were involved in the induction of T_reg by AT. In conclusion, AT significantly increased T_reg numbers and restored their suppressive function in the RA patients, and this may be relevant in the modulation of uncontrolled inflammation in this disorder.
关键词：HMG-CoA reductase inhibition ; immunity ; cell signaling ; drug therapy/hypolipidemic drugs ; inflammation ; lymphocytes ; statins