Differential Expression of CD30 on CD3 T Lymphocytes in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune systemic disease caused as a result of an imbalance of Th1‐/Th2‐type cytokines. The soluble form of CD30 (CD30s) released from peripheral blood cells has been described as a marker of active disease in Th2‐type immune response as in SLE. However, the expression of CD30 on CD3 T lymphocytes from patients with SLE has not been studied yet. Therefore, we have addressed our study to attempt this issue, studying CD30 expression by flow cytometry on CD3 T lymphocytes and CD4/CD8 subsets in samples from SLE patients mainly with lupus nephritis. In parallel, we have determined the production of the cytokines IL‐4 (Th2), IFNγ (Th1), IL‐10 and TGFβ by intracellular staining. Differences between positive CD30 T cells in healthy controls and patients with SLE were found, with a higher percentage of CD30‐expressing T cells in patients with SLE (P = 0.001). In contrast to healthy controls, CD30 was mainly expressed on CD8 T cells from patients with SLE. The intracellular cytokine staining showed that TGFβ is the main cytokine expressed in CD3 T cells from patients with SLE. In addition to this, we have found a positive correlation between CD30‐expressing T cells and IL‐4, IFNγ, and immunosuppressive cytokines (IL‐10 and TGFβ) (P < 0.05). These results suggest that CD30 could play a role in the pathogenesis of SLE and its expression on CD3 T lymphocytes is not restricted only to Th2‐type response.