does functional abnormality in plasmacytoid dendritic cells contribute to Th1 polarization?
OBJECTIVE: Several lines of evidence point to a polarized T-helper-1 (Th1) immune response in Behçet’s disease (BD). However, it is not yet clear which factors are involved in the proposed Th1 mediated pathogenesis of BD. Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen presenting cells which play a crucial role in the polarization of immune response. No previous study has examined the possible role of DCs in the pathogenesis of BD. We conducted both quantitative and functional analysis of the peripheral blood DC subsets in BD patients with different clinical presentations. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with BD, 12 healthy controls (HC), and 12 patients with undifferentiated spondylarthritis (uSpA) were enrolled in the study. Peripheral blood DC subsets were analysed by flow cytometry and were further characterized for maturation with CCR7. Serum levels of interferon (IFN)-alpha and IFN-b were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: BD patients had a decreased percentage of plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) compared to H
