Table 2.

Difference of CD4 T subsets between HC and SLE, and between active and remission group

Variables	HC (n=23)	SLE		P, HC VS. Active	P, remission VS. active
		Active (n=60) (Before therapy)	Remission (n=59) (After therapy)
Proportion (percentage in lymphocyte, %)
Treg	1.22 (1, 1.47)	0.95 (0.65, 1.53)	1.6 (0.97, 2.49)	0.087	0.001
CXCR5+PD-1lowTreg	0.09 (0.04, 0.14)	0.06 (0.03, 0.1)	0.13 (0.06, 0.25)	0.033	<0.001
CXCR5+PD-1highTreg	0.01 (0.007, 0.013)	0.003 (0.002, 0.008)	0.02 (0.009, 0.052)	<0.001	<0.001
Tfh	0.28 (0.17, 0.43)	0.39 (0.24, 0.56)	0.19 (0.09, 0.37)	0.081	0.002
Tfh1	0.61 (0.38, 0.99)	0.2 (0.08, 0.36)	0.17 (0.09, 0.28)	<0.001	0.42
Tfh2	1.06 (0.58, 1.5)	0.42 (0.21, 0.6)	0.36 (0.19, 0.68)	<0.001	0.367
Tfh17	0.45 (0.15, 0.65)	0.47 (0.27, 0.87)	0.44 (0.2, 0.83)	0.345	0.851
Absolute number (cells/μl)
Treg	25.51 (19.98, 30.78)	11.94 (6, 20.81)	20.51 (9.17, 29.06)	0.035	0.014
CXCR5+PD-1lowTreg	2.98 (1.71, 3.1)	0.67 (0.24, 1.21)	1.33 (0.8, 3.54)	0.037	0.005
CXCR5+PD-1highTreg	0.39 (0.28, 0.43)	0.04 (0.02, 0.11)	0.24 (0.11, 0.72)	0.006	<0.001
Tfh	7.29 (4.34, 8.92)	4.6 (2.58, 10.28)	2.84 (0.81, 6.04)	0.625	0.008
Tfh1	14.26 (12.37, 18.22)	2.11 (0.95, 5.47)	1.92 (0.68, 4.28)	0.002	0.427
Tfh2	19.31 (14.66, 24.22)	4.43 (2.11, 11.2)	4.04 (1.73, 11.88)	0.002	0.751
Tfh17	8.82 (7.25, 12.22)	5.39 (2.33, 14.38)	4.67 (2.47, 10.36)	0.642	0.664
Ratios
Treg/Tfh	3.69 (3.04, 8.49)	2.49 (1.89, 4.5)	8.93 (4.04, 18.29)	0.002	<0.001
CXCR5+PD-1lowTreg/Tfh	0.3 (0.21, 0.57)	0.16 (0.08, 0.31)	0.61 (0.4, 1.32)	0.002	<0.001
CXCR5+PD-1highTreg/Tfh	0.06 (0.04, 0.08)	0.01 (0, 0.02)	0.1 (0.06, 0.2)	<0.001	<0.001
Treg/Tfh17	3.87 (2.27, 5.71)	2.29 (1.23, 4.21)	3.89 (2.01, 6.62)	0.047	<0.001
CXCR5+PD-1lowTreg/Tfh17	0.25 (0.17, 0.34)	0.11 (0.05, 0.22)	0.28 (0.18, 0.52)	0.002	<0.001
CXCR5+PD-1highTreg/Tfh17	0.04 (0.03, 0.06)	0.01 (0, 0.02)	0.04 (0.02, 0.08)	<0.001	<0.001

SLE systemic lupus erythematosus, HC healthy controls. Data are median (IQR)s