Idil Esen, Maria Sandovici, Peter Heeringa, Annemieke M H Boots, Elisabeth Brouwer, Yannick van Sleen, Wayel Abdulahad
INTRODUCTION: The IL-12-IFNγ-Th1 and the IL-6-IL-23-Th17 axes are considered the dominant pathogenic pathways in Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA). Both pathways signal via activation of the downstream JAK/STAT proteins. We hypothesized that phosphorylated STAT (pSTAT) signatures in circulating immune cells may aid to stratify GCA-patients for personalized treatment. METHODS: To investigate pSTAT expression, PBMCs from treatment-naive GCA-patients (n = 18), infection controls (INF, n = 11) and age-matched healthy controls (HC, n = 15) were stimulated in vitro with IL-6, IL-2, IL-10, IFN-γ, M-CSF or GM-CSF, and stained with CD3, CD4, CD19, CD45RO, pSTAT1, pSTAT3, pSTAT5 antibodies, and analyzed by flow cytometry...
April 22, 2024: Journal of Autoimmunity