ECE2020 Audio ePoster Presentations Diabetes, Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition (285 abstracts)
1The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Core Research Laboratory, Department of Endocrinology, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Biodiagnosis and Biotherapy, Xi’an, China; 2The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Core Research Laboratory, Xi’an, China; 3The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Department of Endocrinology, Xi’an, China; 4Amigene Institute, Shenzhen, China; 5The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Department of Health Management, Xi’an, China
Context: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with an increased incidence of infections and several cancers. Although low-grade inflammation and certain immune defects have been found in diabetic patients, the role of adaptive immune response remains to be fully elucidated.
Objective: We aimed to explore whether patients with T2D show defects in the activation of T cells.
Design: Immune cell phenotypes, T cell functional reactivity, surface receptors involved in T cell activation, and serum cytokines were compared between 24 T2D patients and 24-age, gender and BMI-matched healthy controls.
Results: Higher frequencies of CD4 T lymphocytes were observed in T2D patients than in healthy controls. Moreover, CD4 T showed augmented expression of co-stimulatory receptor CD28. After PMA/ionomycin stimulation, the percentages of IFNγ, IL-10 and p35-producing CD4 and CD8 T cells were significantly increased in T2D patients. CD4 and CD8 T cells showed augmented production of IFNγ, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17 and p35 cytokines. The percentages of regulatory T cells, B cells, monocytes and dendritic cells were comparable between T2D patients and healthy controls, however, B cells and CD16-positive monocytes expressed more surface MHC class I molecules. The serum levels of IL-10 were increased, while MIG were reduced in T2D patients. The frequencies of certain subtypes of T cells and production of cytokines by T cells were positively correlated to fasting blood glucose, HbA1c and IL-10, while negatively correlated to MIG.
Conclusions: These data indicate that hyperglycemia and chronic inflammation in T2D may lead to sustained activation of T cells, which may result in T cell dysfunction and unresponsiveness.