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Dysregulation of circulating follicular helper T cells in type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic retinopathy

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Abstract

Inflammation is known to be involved in the progression of diabetic retinopathy. Follicular helper T cells (Tfh) play critical roles in the differentiation of long-live plasma cells and production of antibodies, whereas circulating CD4+CXCR5+ T cells may act as a counterpart to measure Tfh cell disorders. In this study, we investigated whether Tfh could be involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) by assessing circulating Tfh cells in peripheral blood. Data showed that serum levels of total IgG and IgA were both significantly increased in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) than with non-PDR. Also, B cell activation and differentiation were both enhanced in T2DM patients with PDR. Little changes were detected in levels of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells. As indicated by elevated serum levels and supernatant from cultured PBMC of IL-21, we found increased circulating Tfh cells in PDR patients with dysregulated subsets. This study suggests the involvement of circulating Tfh cells in DR and, in particular, the pathogenesis of PDR.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 81870663 to Honghua Yu, grant 81760175 to Ling Yuan), the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (grant 202002030074 to Honghua Yu), and the Medical Science Technology Program of Guangdong Province (grant B2020099 to Suihong Ma).

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Author notes

  1. Honghua Yu, Baoyi Liu and Guanrong Wu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China

    Honghua Yu, Baoyi Liu, Guanrong Wu, Zijing Du, Qiaowei Wu, Xiaomin Zeng, Yu Xiao & Ying Fang

  2. The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Honghua Yu, Baoyi Liu, Guanrong Wu, Zijing Du, Qiaowei Wu, Xiaomin Zeng, Yu Xiao & Ying Fang

  3. Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, SunYat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Honghua Yu & Tao Li

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China

    Ling Yuan

  5. Department of Medical Ultrasound, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, Guangzhou, China

    Suihong Ma

  6. School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

    Suihong Ma

Authors
  1. Honghua Yu
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  2. Baoyi Liu
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  3. Guanrong Wu
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  7. Yu Xiao
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  8. Ying Fang
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  9. Ling Yuan
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  11. Tao Li
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ling Yuan, Suihong Ma or Tao Li.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Figure 1

Circulating Tfh cells in healthy donors, NDR, non-PDR and DR patients. a. Flow cytometry data of circulating Tfh cell (CD4+CXCR5+) in peripheral blood; b. Frequencies of circulating Tfh cells in (a). Each dot represented an individual. (PDF 172 kb)

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Yu, H., Liu, B., Wu, G. et al. Dysregulation of circulating follicular helper T cells in type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic retinopathy. Immunol Res 69, 153–161 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-021-09182-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-021-09182-8

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