T cell receptor-Vβ repertoires in lung and blood CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells of pulmonary sarcoidosis patients

BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis patients have accumulations of activated CD4(+) T cells in affected organs, such as the lungs. T cell receptor (TCR) Vβ-chain usage has been incompletely characterized in these patients. METHODS: We surveyed the TCR Vβ usage in CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 15 HLA-typed Scandinavian sarcoidosis patients. In addition, PBMC from 9 healthy volunteers and BAL cells from three of them were examined. Using 21 Vβ family-specific antibodies, we covered approximately 70% of all Vβ chains. RESULTS: In BAL T cells from sarcoidosis patients, we identified 16 CD4(+) T cell expansions in 271 analyses (5.9%) and 21 CD8(+) expansions in 240 analyses (8.7%). In PBMC we found 9 CD4(+) expansions in 276 analyses (3.3%) and 12 CD8(+) expansions out of 263 analyses (4.6%). Consistent with previous studies we found Vβ8 and Vβ16 expansions in sarcoidosis patients’ lungs. In addition, we found lung restricted Vβ22 expansions in three HLA DRB1 03(+) patients. However, we found no statistically significant difference in frequency of expansions between patients and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: The identified T cell expansions in present study indicate specific antigen recognition in the lungs of sarcoidosis patients.