| Abstract [eng] |
Sarcoidosis is a chronic granulomatous lung disease of unknown origin. The accumulation of activated CD4+ T cells at sites of inflammation represents an early stage in granuloma formation. Antigenic presentation stimulates T cells to proliferate via the production of interleukin IL-2. In the last few years evidence has arisen for dysregulation of apoptosis in a number of different pulmonary diseases. Mechanisms governing the normal resolution of inflammatory processes are poorly understood. CD95, also known as Fas antigen, has the ability to activate the cellular death program „apoptosis“, which can be critical for limiting an inflammatory response. This study aimed to investigate the apoptotic and proliferating markers of lung and peripheral blood T-lymphocytes. MATERIAL. The invesigation material was gathered in Vilnius University hospital „Santariškių klinikos“ in the Immunological laboratory. 45 patients with sarcoidosis (the average age was 38,8±10,5 years) were investigated. The patients were divided into two groups: the ones having an active form of sarcoidosis (n=20) and the others non-active form of sarcoidosis (n=22). In addition, 5 healthy volunteers participated in the invesigation. Lymphocyte analysis was performed using flow cytometric method. RESULTS. The percentage of lymphocytes expressing IL-2 receptor α chain (CD25) in patients with sarcoidosis (active form (21.0±7,7%) and non-active form (16,0±8,2%)) in BAL fluid is higher (p<0,05) comparend with healthy controls (10,5±6,2%). The percentage of CD3+CD25+ lymphocytes in blood of patients with sarcoidosis of active form was significantly higher than in the blood of healthy controls (29,9±4,9% versus 22,2±4,7%). During the invesigation of the expression of apoptosis initiative receptor (CD95) on the T-lymphocytes we observed that the percentage of CD3+CD95+ lymphocytes in BAL fluid was significantly higher than in peripheral blood (p<0,05) when comparing sarcoidic patients with active and non-active forms and healthy controls. In both patients’ groups (active form 84,8±7,2%; non-active form 85,4±8,8%) there were more BAL fluid CD3+CD95+ lymphocytes (p<0,05) than in BAL fluid samples of healthy controls (46,3±12,2%). CONCLUSIONS. Our results shows that BAL fluid lymphocytes seem to be resistant to apoptosis and it might contribute to the accumulation of inflammatory cells in the lungs, persistenie of inflammation, and the development and maintenance of granuloma. |
