Relationship between natural killer cells, CD3 cells and disease progression in patients with early psoriatic arthritis

Objective To investigate the relationship between natural killer (NK) cells, CD3 cells, and the progression of psoriatic arthritis. Methods 72 patients with psoriatic arthritis in Hubei University of Medicine were recruited as subjects for this study.72 health individuals in the same hospital taking physical examination were recruited as controls.Natural killer (NK) cells and CD3 cells were determined by flow cytometry.The poriasis area and severity index(PASI) scores were used to evaluate disease progression. Results Compared with the control group , the proportion of NK cells[(14.59±3.14)% vs.(10.49±4.11)%] and CD3 cells[(33.94±6.13)% vs.(18.44±5.29)%]of the patients were obviously reduced(t values were 6.393 and 11.832 respectively, both P<0.05). The psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score of the patients were significantly higher than that of controls[(43.11±5.39)vs.(11.39±5.01), t=14.592, P<0.05]. There was a negative correlation between the proportion of NK cells, CD16 cells and the PASI score for patients(r=-0.409, -0.382, P<0.05). Conclusion Patients at the early stage of psoriatic arthritis more likely have low levels of NK and CD3 cells, which are correlated with the progression of the disease. Key words: Psoriatic arthritis; Natural killer cells; CD3 cells