摘要：Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is a cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of Takayasu’s arteritis (TAK). However, the source of IFN-γ in TAK patients is not fully clear. We aimed to investigate the source of IFN-γ in TAK. 60 TAK patients and 35 health controls were enrolled. The lymphocyte subsets of peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry, cytokines were detected by Bio-plex. The correlation among lymphocyte subsets, cytokines and disease activity indexes was analyzed by person correlation. The level of serum IFN-γ in TAK patients was significantly increased (
P < 0.05). The percentage of CD3
+IFN-γ
+ cells in peripheral blood CD3
+ cells was significantly higher in TAK patients than that of healthy control group (
P = 0.002). A higher proportion of CD3
+CD8
+IFN-γ
+ cells/CD3
+IFN-γ
+ cells (40.23 ± 11.98% vs 35.12 ± 11.51%,
P = 0.049), and a significantly lower CD3
+CD4
+IFN-γ
+/ CD3
+CD8
+IFN-γ
+ ratio (1.34 ± 0.62% vs 1.80 ± 1.33%,
P = 0.027) were showed in the TAK group than that of control group. The CD3
+CD8
+IFN-γ
+/CD3
+IFN-γ
+ ratio was positively correlated with CD3
+IFN-γ
+cells/ CD3
+cells ratio (r = 0.430,
P = 0.001), serum IFN-γ level (r = 0.318,
P = 0.040) and IL-17 level (r = 0.326,
P = 0.031). It was negatively correlated with CD3
+CD4
+IFN-γ
+/CD3
+IFN-γ
+ ratio (r = − 0.845,
P < 0.001). IFN-γ secreted by CD3
+CD8
+ T cells is an important source of serum IFN-γ in TAK patients.
