Treatment with imatinib results in reduced IL-4-producing T cells, but increased CD4(+) T cells in the broncho-alveolar lavage of patients with systemic sclerosis.

ABSTRACT: T cells, particularly those producing IL-4, are implicated in inflammation-mediated fibrosis. In our phase I/IIa open-label pilot study in 15 patients with scleroderma-interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD), high-dose imatinib treatment showed modest improvement in lung function and skin score, but with several adverse events. Here, we investigated T cell phenotype and cytokine production in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from patients enrolled in this trial. We found that IL-4(+) T cells showed a stronger correlation with ground glass opacity (GGO) than fibrosis scores on lung high-resolution computer tomography scans. Frequencies of IL-4(+) T cells also discriminated patients with high (≥20) versus low (<20) GGO scores. Functional annotation clustering of proteins that correlated with T cells

SUBMITTER: Divekar AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3221795 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature