The Correlation Between Changes In The Number Of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes Subsets And Intestinal Microbiota In Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective:1.Comparison of the general condition between SLE patients and healthy control group(HC);2.Compare the changes in the number and function of peripheral blood lymphocytes in SLE patients and HC,and analyze their correlation in SLE group with SLEDAI score,ESR,ds-DNA and complement changes;3.Compare the intestinal micribiota changes in SLE patients and HC to determine the correlation between them and the number and function of peripheral blood lymphocytes,SLEDAI score,ESR,ds-DNA and complement.Methods:A total of 39 participents were enrolled in this study,including 23 SLE patients(female accounting for 78.3%,mesn age 39.26±14.74),16 whose age and gender-matched Healthy Controls(HC)(female accounting for 62.5%,mesn age 33.56±12.48).23 patients with SLE met the American Collegue of Rheumotology(ACR)revised classification criteria for SLE in 1997(table 1).And they were all patients in the department of rheumatology and immunology of the second hospital of shanxi medical university from December 2018 to February 2019.The HC group was recruited from volunteers.Peripheral blood lymphocytes and feces of the above participents were collected.Flow cytometry was used to detect the number of peripheral blood lymphocytes,and 16s technology was used to detect the relative abundance of each flora in feces to analyze the number of lymphocytes and the expression of intestinal flora in SLE patients and HC.we analyze the correlation between them with SLEDAI,ESR,ds-DNA and complement and analyze the correlation between the relative abundance of each flora with the number of lymphocytes.SPSS20.0 software was used to analyze the experimental data.Results:1.There was no statistical difference in age composition and gender between SLE group and HC group.2.Compared with HC group,in SLE group:2.1 There was a significant decrease in T cells secreting IFN(P=0.017),Treg cells(P=0.022)and Naive CD4~+T cells(P=0.037);2.2 CD4~+T cells,CD8~+T cells,Naive CD8~+T cells,memory CD4~+T cells,memory CD8~+T cells,memory CD8~+T cells secreting IFNγand memory CD8~+T cells Secreting IL-17 showed no significant changes.2.3 There was a significant downward trend in Tfh cells,Tfr cells,T cells,B cells and GC-B cells.2.4 There was a significant increase trend in Th1 cells,Th17 cells,memory CD4~+T cells secreting IL-17,memory CD8~+T cells secreting IL-17,CD8~+T cells secreting IL-17,and CD8~+T cells secreting IFNγ.2.5 Compared with HC,the diversity of intestinal bacteria in SLE patients is decreased(P=0.003).2.6 Compared with HC at the level of intestinal flora,the relative abundance of firmicutes in SLE patients is significantly decreased(P=0.040).And the abundance of bacteroidetes showed an increasing trend.3.The correlation analysis3.1 Correlation between the number of different peripheral blood lymphocytes and ESR,SLEDAI in SLE group.There is no correlation between the number of different peripheral blood lymphocytes and ESR,SLEDAI,ds-DNA in SLE group.3.2 Correlation between intestinal flora changes in SLE group and ESR,SLEDAI,ds-DNAThere was no significant correlation between ESR,complement C3,C4,ds-DNA and SLEDAI and the abundance of bacteroidetes and firmicutes.3.3 Correlation between changes in peripheral blood lymphocytes,intestinal flora and ESR,SLEDAI,ds-DNA in SLE group.In SLE patients,GC-B cells(P=0.040),Tfr cells(P=0.029)and the abundance of firmicutes are positively correlated,while Tfr cells and the abundance of bacteroides are negatively correlated(P=0.039).There was no significant correlation between other cells and the abundance ofbacteroides and firmicutes.Conclusion:Compared with HC,SLE patients have abnormalities in lymphocyte subsets and bacterial structure,and there is a certain correlation between the changes in the bacterial structure and the changes in lymphocytes,which highly suggests that the changes in the bacterial structure may be involved in the occurrence and progression of SLE lymphocyte abnormalities and the development of diseases.This study provides a certain theoretical basis for further clarifying the effect of intestinal flora on lymphocytes and the incidence of SLE.