ANALYSIS OF FOLLICULAR TH-SUBSETS IN PATIENTS WITH HASHIMOTO THYROIDITIS ASSOCIATED WITH MENTAL DISORDERS

DOI: 10.22138/2500-0918-2024-21-4-446-466

P.A. Sobolevskaia¹, A.N. Gvozdeckii², I.V. Kudryavtsev³,
V.A. Chereshnev⁴, L.P. Churilov¹

¹FSBEI HPE «Saint-Petersburg State University», Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation;
²North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov,
Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation;
³Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution «Institute of Experimental Medicine»,
Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation;
⁴Institute of Immunology and Physiology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation

Abstract: This study presents an analysis of T-follicular helpers (Tfh) subsets in patients with Hashimoto’s chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and examines their relationships with various clinical and laboratory parameters. Objective. To analyze Tfh-subsets in peripheral blood in patients with AIT, as well as in patients with AIT combined with mental disorders (MD). Materials and Methods. The study involved 80 participants aged 18 to 75 years, divided into three groups: the AIT+MD group (14 patients with AIT combined with various MD, mean age 54.3±11.4 years); the AIT group (46 patients with AIT without MD, mean age 48.6±12.5 years); and the control group HC (20 mentally and physically healthy individuals, mean age 45.6±13.1 years). Methods included multiparametric fluorescent analysis of cytokine concentrations, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for hormone and antibody concentrations, and flow cytometry for lymphocyte subpopulation analysis. Results. The study demonstrated elevated levels of CXCR3 expression on the surface of Tfh in patients with AIT and MD, which correlated with signs of thyroid gland involvement and may be pathogenetically significant for lymphocyte migration to the central nervous system (CNS) and thyroid gland. It was also shown that the proportion of Tfh in the blood was higher in the group of patients with MD than in other groups, and the level of IL-21 synthesized by Tfh was statistically significantly different in both groups of AIT patients compared to the control group. Conclusions. The study indicated that patients with MD exhibit an imbalance in the subpopulation composition of Tfh: a decrease in the Tfh2 subpopulation, which likely migrates to the lymph nodes and thyroid gland, which in AIT undergoes pronounced lymphoid infiltration and even forms lymphoid follicles, where these lymphocytes likely express IL-5 and IL-13, the systemic concentrations of which were elevated in patients with AIT and MD.

Keywords: autoimmune thyroiditis, mental disorders, cytokines, follicular T-helpers

There is no conflict of interest.
Contact details of the corresponding author:
Polina A. Sobolevskaia
dr.polinasobolevskaia@bk.ru
Received: 01.09.2024
For citation: Sobolevskaia P.A., Gvozdeckii A.N., Kudryavtsev I.V., Chereshnev V.A., Churilov L.P. Analysis of follicular Th-subsets in patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis associated with mental disorders. [Online] Vestn. Ural. Med. Akad. Nauki. = Journal of Ural Medical Academic Science. 2024, Vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 446–466. DOI: 10.22138/2500-0918-2024-21-4-446-466 (In Russ)

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Auhtors

Sobolevskaia Polina Anatolievna
Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education «Saint-Petersburg State University» (Saint-Petersburg State University)
Researcher of the Laboratory of the Microangiopathic Mechanisms of Atherogenesis
St.Petersburg, Russian Federation
dr.polinasobolevskaia@bk.ru

Gvozdeckii Anton Nikolaevich
North-Western State Medical University named after I.I.Mechnikov
Ph.D. (Medicine), Assistant of the Department of Psychiatry and Narcology
St.Petersburg, Russian Federation
comisora@yandex.ru

Kudryavtsev Igor Vladimirovich
Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution «Institute of Experimental Medicine» (FSBSI «IEM»)
Ph.D. (Biology), Head of the Laboratory of Cellular Immunology
St.Petersburg, Russian Federation
igorek1981@yandex.ru

Chereshnev Valerii Alexandrovich
Institute of Immunology and Physiology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IIP UB RAS)
MD, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor, Scientific Director
Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation
v.chereshnev@mail.ru

Сhurilov Leonid Pavlovich
Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education «Saint-Petersburg State University» (Saint-Petersburg State University)
Ph.D. (Medicine), Academician of the Moldovan Academy of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor, Chairman of the of the Pathology Department
St.Petersburg, Russian Federation
elpach@mail.ru