Table 5.

Cytokine secretion of activated CD3⁺CD4⁺CD8⁻ T cells in the peripheral blood (PB) and joint-derived samples (SF, SM)

	PB	SF	SM	p values
				PB:SF	PB:SM	SF:SM
n	9	9	9
Th1 (IFN-γ)	14.2 (12.3–24.6)	55.8 (40.1–85.6)	42.8 (19.0–53.8)	0.008**	0.038*	0.051
Th2 (IL-4)	0.6 (0.5–1.9)	2.9 (1.1–4.0)	2.0 (1.6–4.7)	0.008**	0.008**	0.953
Th17 (IL-17A)	0.9 (0.7–1.5)	1.6 (0.8–2.2)	2.0 (1.2–2.2)	0.678	0.086	0.678

Percentage rates of CD3⁺CD4⁺CD8⁻ T cells stained positive for IFN-γ (Th1), IL-4 (Th2), and IL-17A (Th17) are shown for the peripheral blood (PB), synovial fluid (SF), and synovial membrane (SM) of patients with early OA. Intracellular markers were stained with APC-labeled anti-IFN-γ (clone B27), FITC-labeled anti-IL-4 (clone MP4-2502), and PE-labeled anti-IL-17A (clone N49-653). Data is shown as median (IQR). Significant differences are marked with asterisks: *p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01