Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
PAIN CLINIC, cilt.13, sa.2, ss.165-170, 2001 (SCI-Expanded)
The purpose of this study was to determine peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) CD4 and CD8 cells in 18 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Flow cytometry techniques, were used to analyze and compare distribution of lymphocyte subpopulations in PB and SF samples. The lymphocytes of PB from 20 normal subjects served as. the control group. The mean percentages of CD4 and CD8 in SF were significantly lower than in PB of the patients and controls (p < 0.001, for both). CD4 and CD8 isoforms in the PB of RA patients were not significantly different from those of healthy controls (p > 0.05). The mean CD4/CD8 ratio was significantly lower in SF of patients than in PB of both patient and control groups (p < 0.001, p < 0.01, respectively), but no significant difference was found between PB of patient and control groups (p > 0.05). No correlations were found between the mean CD4/CD8 ratio and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) or Ritchie Articular Index (RAI). These findings suggest that patients with RA show more specific changes in their SF lymphocytes than in their PB lymphocytes.