The Expression of LIGHT Was Increased and the Expression of HVEM and BTLA Were Decreased in the T Cells of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

BackgroundCurrently, the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is not clearly understood. The LIGHT/HVEM/BTLA co-signaling pathway may be involved in the pathogenesis of RA, although reports on the expression levels of LIGHT, HVEM and BTLA in T lymphocytes from RA patients are limited.MethodIn this study, we recruited 30 healthy controls and 21 RA patients. Clinical characteristics were collected for RA patients. The levels of LIGHT, HVEM and BTLA expressed on the surface of circulating T cells of RA patients and healthy controls were measured by flow cytometry.ResultThe percentages of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes that expressed BTLA from RA patients were all higher than those of the controls (all p p ConclusionHere, we provide the first report on the increased expression of BTLA in T lymphocytes and on the decreased expression of HVEM and LIGHT in RA patients. BTLA, HVEM and LIGHT might be involved in the pathogenesis of RA and have the potential to be new clinically useful characteristics of RA.