Dysregulated lymphocyte proliferation and differentiation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Correlación de la respuesta a antígenos de Mycobacterium tuberculosis y la prueba cutánea tuberculina en pacientes con artritis reumatoide

“…In this study, most patients, despite receiving this type of therapy, responded to the TST, and some patients even presented high TST induration values. Therefore, the tuberculin anergy previously described in rheumatoid arthritis patients in other reports (36)(37)(38) was not observed in our study. The distribution of TST reactivity in our patient cohort showed that 31.1% of patients had a TST induration > 10 mm, whereas only two patients had indurations of 5-9 mm.…”

Defective CD8+CD28− regulatory T cell suppressor function in rheumatoid arthritis is restored by tumour necrosis factor inhibitor therapy

“…T cell defects resulting in imbalance of the critical network of cellular and soluble immune effectors, and their regulators that maintain selftolerance, are implicated in the pathogenesis of RA. Research over several decades indicate that RA T cells are dysfunctional and show reduced responsiveness to recall antigens [2].…”

Prevention of spontaneous arthritis by inhibiting homeostatic expansion of autoreactive CD4+ T cells in the K/BxN mouse model

“…Because inappropriate development and maturation of T lymphocytes can bypass mechanisms of self-tolerance, autoimmunity could result from abnormal T cell development or differentiation. Consistent with this notion, patients with RA were shown to possess fewer naive CD4ϩ T cells compared with healthy controls (1). This lymphopenic phenomenon appears to be attributable to prematurely compromised thymic output and rapid turnover or senescence of peripheral T cells, as judged by the reduced numbers of cells containing T cell receptor excision circles and prematurely shortened telomeres (2).…”