Expression of CD55, CD59, CD46 and CD35 in Peripheral Blood Cells from Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Evidences point that complement activation plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this context, expression of the CReg was investigated on white cells from peripheral blood of 30 RA patients and 30 healthy controls. Using flow cytometric analyses the relative fluorescence intensities (MFI) of Cregs were determined. CD59 MFI was significantly increased in RA cells comparing to controls, respectively: lymphocytes 36.8 versus 27.07; monocytes 32.0 versus 21.37; and granulocytes: 84.6 versus 66.1 (p < 0.05). Interestingly, no difference was observed on the MFI to CD55, CD46 and CD35 in these cells. These data indicate an overexpression of CD59 in all the peripheral blood cells of RA patients, perhaps due to an increased synthesis for compensatory mechanisms because of complement activation, inflammatory status or other factors associated with the disease.