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. 1998 May;57(5):275–280. doi: 10.1136/ard.57.5.275

Mutual antagonism of rheumatoid arthritis and hay fever; a role for type 1/type 2 T cell balance

C Verhoef 1, J A G van Roon 1, M Vianen 1, C Bruijnzeel-Koomen 1, F Lafeber 1, J Bijlsma 1
PMCID: PMC1752592  PMID: 9741310

Abstract

OBJECTIVES—The balance between interferon γ(IFNγ) and interleukin 4 (IL4) producing T cells (T1 and T2 cells) seems to be of importance in many (auto)immune disorders. In general, T1 cell activity is important in cellular immunity whereas T2 cell activity plays a part in humoral responses. T1 cell activity predominates in joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) whereas T2 cell activity is characteristic of atopic syndromes. This study investigated whether the prevalence of hay fever in RA is low and if severity of RA (T1 cell activity) can be influenced by the concomitant occurrence of a T2 cell mediated disease (hay fever).
METHODS—The prevalence of hay fever was assessed in 643 consecutive (RA and non-RA) patients seen in our outpatient clinic and confirmed by skin test and specific IgE. Of this group the 12 RA patients with hay fever were compared with RA patients without hay fever (matched for age, sex, and disease duration).
RESULTS—The prevalence of hay fever in RA patients is lower than in non-RA patients (4% versus 8%), and yields a relative risk for RA patients to develop hay fever of 0.48. RA patients with hay fever showed a lower disease activity (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C reactive proten, Thompson joint score, and radiographic joint damage (Sharp) score) than RA patients without hay fever. The clinical data were related to peripheral blood T1/T2 cell balance: a lower IFNγ/IL4 ratio was observed for RA patients with hay fever, indicating a comparatively increased T2 cell activity in RA patients with hay fever.
CONCLUSION—These results argue in favour of the exploration of treatments aimed at regulation of a possible imbalance in T1/T2 cell activity in RA.

 Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis; hay fever; T1 T cell; T2 T cell; interferon γ; interleukin 4

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Figure 1  .

Figure 1  

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(A) ESR, CRP, Thompson joint score, and modified Sharp score of RA non-hay fever patients (C; n=24) and RA hay fever patients (HF; n=12,), studied during the hay fever season. Boxplots represent: median (thick line), 25-75% (box), 10-90% (thin line). Asterisks indicate a statistical significant difference between the two groups (p< 0.05). (B) Characteristic T1 and T2 cell cytokines IFNγ and IL4, respectively (left axis) and their ratio (right axis) produced by mitogenic stimulated PB-MNC of 24 RA non-hay fever patients (C) and 12 RA hay fever patients (HF) during the hay fever season. Boxplots represent: median (thick line), 25-75% (box), 10-90% (thin line). Asterisks indicate a statistical significant difference between the two groups (p< 0.05).

Figure 2  .

Figure 2  

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(A) ESR, CRP, Thompson joint score, and modified Sharp score of RA hay fever patients (n=12), studied during (in) and after the hay fever season (out). Boxplots represent: median (thick line), 25-75% (box), 10-90% (thin line). (B) Characteristic T1 and T2 cell cytokines IFNγ and IL4, respectively (left axis) and their ratio (right axis) produced by mitogenic stimulated PBMNC of 12 RA hay fever patients, studied during (in) and after the hay fever season (out). Boxplots represent: median (thick line), 25-75% (box), 10-90% (thin line). Asterisks indicate a statistical significant difference between the two groups (p< 0.05).

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