Proinflammatory T cell polarization is already present in patients with early knee osteoarthritis

Table 3 Comparison of CD4⁺ T cell surface marker/chemokine receptor status in the peripheral blood (PB) and joint-derived samples (SF, SM)

CD4⁺ T cell subset		PB	SF	SM	p values
CD4⁺ T cell subset		PB	SF	SM	PB:SF	PB:SM	SF:SM
Th1	n	9	9	9
	CD4⁺ T cells
	*CXCR3*	10.0 (8.3–22.4)	66.2 (62.6–84.2)	76.9 (58.0–96.0)	0.008**	0.008**	0.515
	*CCR5*	13.4 (6.4–17.7)	76.1 (73.6–89.8)	79.9 (74.0–93.5)	0.008**	0.008**	0.594
Th2	*CCR3*	29.5 (22.0–32.0)	33.9 (20.3–52.8)	57.9 (26.5–85.8)	0.173	0.051	0.110
Th2	*CCR4*	45.2 (36.6–56.6)	22.8 (8.9–37.3)	61.4 (24.1–87.7)	0.139	0.314	0.021*
Th17	*CCR6*	32.6 (25.7–37.1)	31.7 (28.7–44.3)	47.2 (18.8–81.3)	0.859	0.173	0.594
Th17	*CD161*	4.6 (4.0–8.7)	24.4 (17.1–34.8)	32.7 (21.9–42.1)	0.011*	0.008**	0.678
Treg	(*CD25*^+/highCD127^low/−)	3.6 (2.8–5.1)	6.3 (2.7–9.2)	12.3 (9.7–21.6)	0.139	0.008**	0.066

Sample number and percentage rates of CD4⁺ T cells stained positive for CXCR3, CCR5 (preferentially expressed by Th1 cells), CCR3, CCR4 (preferentially expressed by Th2 cells), CCR6, CD161 (preferentially expressed by Th17 cells), and CD25^+/highCD127^low/− (Treg) are shown for the peripheral blood (PB), synovial fluid (SF), and synovial membrane (SM) of patients with early knee OA. In brief, mononuclear cells were isolated from PB, SF, and SM by density gradient centrifugation. CD3⁺ MACS-isolated T cells from PB, SF, and SM were stained with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) for the following surface markers: CD4, CD25, CD127, CXCR3, CCR5, CCR3, CCR4, CD161, and CCR6. Before flow cytometric detection, 7-AAD was added to the cell suspensions to exclude cell debris and dead cells. The cutoff for all cell surface markers was defined based on fluorescence minus one (FMO) controls. Data is shown as median (IQR). Significant differences are marked with asterisks: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001

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