Increased Frequency of Circulating Follicular Helper T Cells in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Figure 1

Increased frequency of circulating follicular helper T (Tfh) cells in peripheral blood from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBCs) from RA patients (𝑛=31) and healthy controls (𝑛=30) were stained with labelled antibodies as described in Methods. (a) Representative expression of ICOS versus CD4 expression by flow cytometry, values in each CD4⁺ gate (ICOS^high [black box], ICOS positive [ICOS intermediate plus ICOS^high [+]], and ICOS negative). (b) Representative flow cytometry plots of Tfh (CD4⁺ CXCR5⁺) cells. (c) Representative flow cytometry plots of Tfh (CD4⁺ CXCR5⁺ ICOS^high) cells. (d) Percentage of CD4⁺ ICOS⁺ T lymphocytes in RA patients and healthy controls (***𝑃<0.001). (e) Percentage of CD4⁺ ICOS^high T lymphocytes in RA patients and healthy controls (***𝑃<0.001). (f) Percentage of CD4⁺ CXCR5⁺ T lymphocytes in RA patients and healthy controls (**𝑃<0.01). (g) Percentage of CD4⁺ CXCR5⁺ ICOS^high T lymphocytes in RA patients and healthy controls (***𝑃<0.001). Each data point represents an individual subject, and horizontal lines show the median.