The Role of Th17 Cells in the Pathogenesis of Behçet’s Disease

Abstract

Behçet's disease (BD) is a polysymptomatic and recurrent systemic vasculitis with a chronic course and unknown cause. BD is now categorized as both autoimmune diseases and auto inflammatory diseases. The pathogenesis of BD is still unclear; however, BD has been thought as a Th1-related disease, with elevating levels of Th1 cytokines such as IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2. Some investigators found that Th17-associated cytokines were elevated in patients with BD; thus, IL-17/IL-23 pathway and Th17 cells may have crucial roles in the pathogenesis of BD. In this chapter, we review the pathogenic role of Th17 cells in BD.

Frenemies within: An Endocarditis Case in Behçet’s Disease

“…In BD activation of neutrophils and NLRP3 inflammasome (nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich containing family, pyrin domain-containing 3) is seen [ 41 , 42 ]. Nevertheless, C. Burnetii inhibits the NLRP3 inflammasome and also IL-17, important in neutrophil recruitment in BD [ 40 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. Of interest, a similar tolerance induction using a recombinant Cholera toxin B subunit (conjugated with a peptide derived from the HSP protein 60) was therapeutically tried in BD uveitis [ 46 ].…”