Deep immune profiling of circulating mononuclear cells in Behcet disease patients reveals immune subsets associated with ocular inflammation

Abstract

Purpose : Various cells of innate and adaptive immunity have been implicated in pathogenesis of Behçet disease (BD), however, the immune mechanisms of the ocular inflammation in BD are not fully understood. Here we sought to identify cellular profiles associated with the ocular inflammation using high-dimensional single cell mass cytometry.

Methods : Seven active BD patients with ocular inflammatory attacks and 7 inactive BD patients without ocular attack more than 2 years were included in this study. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were analyzed for 34 cell surface markers and functional markers of innate and adaptive immunity using mass cytometry. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis was used to compare features of cellular subsets between the different ocular inflammatory conditions.

Results : Features characterizing the ocular attack were increase in CD3^-CD56⁺CD16⁺NK cells and CD14⁺monocyte populations. Contrary, increase in CD4⁺CD27⁺CD28⁺T cells were observed in temporary remission of active BD patients. Notably, CD14⁺monocytes were abundant in the inactive BD patients (FDR<5%).

Conclusions : Subset frequencies of both innate and adaptive leukocytes were associated with ocular inflammation in BD patients. Mass cytometry and subsequent clustering analysis on PBMC of uveitis with systemic involvement have potential to be useful in characterizing immune subsets associated with the ocular inflammatory status.

This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.