The Expansion of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Is Associated with Joint Inflammation in Rheumatic Patients with Arthritis

Figure 1

The representative flow charts of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and their subsets in the peripheral blood (PB) of rheumatic patients. Cells were prepared from the PB of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), osteoarthritis (OA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with or without arthritis (SLE-1, SLE-2), Gout, and hyperuricemia (HUA) patients, as well as healthy controls (HC). They were then stained for CD11b, CD33, HLA-DR, CD14, and CD15. Lymphocytes and monocytes were defined by the forward and side scatter gates (Gates-1). Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) were defined by CD11b+CD33+HLA-DRlow/- (Gates-2, Gates-3). The proportions of monocytic MDSCs (M-MDSCs) and granulocytic MDSC (G-MDSCs) marked with CD14+ and CD15+ MDSCs, respectively, were penned in Gates-4.