The chronic chikungunya arthritis symptoms closely mimic the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms, thus making it difficult to distinguish between these two clinical entities. The current comparative study characterizes NK (CD3-CD56+) and NK-like T (CD3+CD56+) cell responses in patients with chronic chikungunya arthritis and RA. Phenotype and functions of NK and NK-like T cells repertoire were assessed in 56 chronic chikungunya arthritis, 26 RA patients and 82 controls using flow cytometry. TNF-α and IFN-γ-secreting NK-like T cells were high in both chronic arthritis patients than in controls. Percentage of TNF-α+ NK cells was higher in RA patients than in controls. Percentage of perforin+ NK cells was low in both chronic arthritis patient groups. Among the patient groups, expressions of perforin+ and IFN-γ+ NK-like T cells were higher in RA. Overall, our data show reduced frequency of NK-like T cells, lower expression of perforin+ NK, higher expression of TNF-α+ NK-like T and IFN-γ+ NK-like T cells as the markers of chronic arthritic diseases. In the absence of any specific treatment for chronic chikungunya induced arthritis and promising results of anti-TNF-α therapy against RA, current data may form the basis for future in vivo studies and has scope as possible therapeutics against chikungunya.
Keywords: Chikungunya; NK cell; NK-like T cell; RA; TNF-α.
Copyright © 2017 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.