Benjamin Seeliger, Christine Ehlers and Theresa Graalmann (from left to proper). Credit score: TWINCORE/Thomas Damm
Sufferers with systemic sclerosis or Sjögren’s syndrome endure from numerous inflammatory reactions triggered by the physique’s personal immune system. A crew of researchers has investigated the function of sure immune cells within the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis and Sjögren’s syndrome. They just lately printed their findings within the journal Rheumatology.
The group at TWINCORE, the Heart for Experimental and Medical An infection Analysis in Hanover, teamed up with colleagues from the Division of Pulmonology and Infectious Illnesses and the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology at Hannover Medical Faculty to conduct the research.
Systemic sclerosis is characterised by irritation and scarring of the pores and skin. In Sjögren’s syndrome, the physique’s immune system assaults and damages the tear and salivary glands particularly. Each ailments are rheumatic ailments that have an effect on the lungs and may trigger extreme injury.
This happens about twice as usually in systemic sclerosis as in Sjögren’s syndrome. The irritation and elevated formation of connective tissue (fibrosis) within the lungs make fuel change troublesome. This results in a situation often known as interstitial lung illness.
The function performed by completely different immune cells on this course of has hardly been researched thus far. That is the place the present work of Dr. Theresa Graalmann is available in. She is a doctor within the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology at MHH and in addition heads the scientific junior analysis group “Translational Immunology” at TWINCORE.
Right here, she is investigating the pathomechanisms of autoimmune ailments. “Previous work on interstitial lung disease in patients with systemic sclerosis and Sjögren’s syndrome has mainly focused on fibroblasts and other connective tissue cells,” she says.
“We have now characterized immune cells from the blood and bronchoalveolar lavages, i.e., lung washes, of patients with systemic sclerosis or Sjögren’s syndrome and compared them with those of healthy individuals,” says Christine Ehlers, a Ph.D. candidate in Graalmann’s crew.
“In both patient groups, we found significant changes in the cells, especially in the T cells.” This cell sort has numerous key features within the immune system and may management different immune features, particularly via the manufacturing of messenger substances.
“While the cell populations in the blood differ between the two diseases in terms of both their composition and function, the T cells in the lungs of both patient cohorts were surprisingly similar,” says Ehlers. The researchers have been capable of determine a number of traits of the T cells that indicated that the immune system was in a state of exhaustion.
“We also know T cell exhaustion from other diseases, such as viral infections like SARS-CoV-2 or cancer,” says Dr. Benjamin Seeliger, senior doctor on the Division of Pulmonology and Infectious Illnesses on the MHH. He led the analysis mission along with Theresa Graalmann. “The findings reinforce the use of T-cell-targeted therapies and show us new possible avenues for therapeutic interventions.”
Extra data:
Christine Ehlers et al, T cells of sufferers with systemic sclerosis or Sjögren’s illness show an aberrant metabolic state and reminiscence phenotype in blood and lungs, Rheumatology (2025). DOI: 10.1093/rheumatology/keaf198
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Researchers examine the reason for lung injury in autoimmune ailments (2025, Might 27)
retrieved 27 Might 2025
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