Differences in serum and synovial CD4+ T cells and cytokine profiles to stratify patients with inflammatory osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

Background The aim was to investigate CD4+T-cell subsets, immune cells and their cytokine profiles in blood and synovial compartments in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and inflammatory osteoarthritis (OA) to define specific immune signatures. Methods Peripheral blood, synovial fluid (SF) and synovial membranes (SM) of RA and OA patients were analyzed. CD4+T-cell subset frequencies were determined by flow cytometry, and cytokine concentrations in serum and SF were measured by ELISA. Results In peripheral blood, OA patients had altered frequencies of regulatory T-cell subsets, and higher frequencies... Mehr ...