Characterization of CD30/CD30L+ Cells in Peripheral Blood and Synovial Fluid of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

The cd30/cd30l signalling system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. in rheumatoid arthritis (ra),soluble cd30 (scd30) levels reflect the recruitment of cd30+ t cells into the inflamed joints and correlate with a positive response to immunosuppressive therapy. the aim of our report was to clarify the role of cd30/cd30l signalling system in the pathogenesis of ra. our analysis of the cd30l+ t cell subsets in peripheral blood (pb) and synovial fluid (sf) of ra patients and of the related cytokine profiles suggests the involvement of cd30/cd30l signalling in polarization of t cells towards a th17 phenotype with proinflammatory features. moreover,in ra sf nearly 50% of treg cells express cd30,probably as an attempt to downmodulate the ongoing inflammation. we also show here that the engagement of cd30l on neutrophils stimulated with cd30/fc chimera may play a crucial role in ra inflammation since activated neutrophils release il-8,thus potentially amplifying the local inflammatory damage. in conclusion,the results obtained suggest that the complex cd30/cd30l signalling pathway is implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of ra synovitis through a concerted action on several immune effector cells. copyright © 2015 alessandro barbieri et al.