Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid IFN-𝜸⁺ Th17 Cells and Regulatory T Cells in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

Table 2

BALF lymphocyte subsets assessed by flow cytometry.

Characteristic	Sarcoidosis; (𝑁=30)	Other DPLDs; (𝑁=18)	Healthy controls; (𝑁=15)	𝑃^∗
CD3^+ T cells (% of lymphocytes)	96.2 (95.3–97.5)^##	92.3 (87.0–94.6)	92.9 (89.7–94.6)	<0.0001
CD4/CD8 ratio	6.1 (4.1–10.8)^##	2.0 (0.5–3.3)	2.6 (2.1–3.4)	<0.0001
HLA-DR^+ (% of CD4^+ T cells)	75.1 (60.9–80.7)	76.1 (70.2–84.4)§§	44.9 (36.1–56.7)	<0.0001
HLA-DR^+ (% of CD8^+ T cells)	47.3 (42.2–56.3)^##	70.0 (58.6–78.1)§§	30.4 (25.9–33.9)	<0.0001
FoxP3^+ (% of CD4^+ T cells)	3.4 (2.1–4.8)^##	7.1 (4.4–12.6)	5.3 (4.4–7.0)	0.02
CD39^+ (% of FoxP3^+ CD4^+ T cells)	61 (34–78)^#	80 (68–84)§	55 (45–66)	0.51
CD27^+ (% of FoxP3^+ CD4^+ T cells)	86 (80–93)^#	95 (87–97)§§	78 (72–86)	0.06

Data are shown as median (IQR). ^∗𝑃 values represent pairwise comparison between sarcoidosis and healthy controls with Mann-Whitney 𝑈 test conducted if significant differences were found with Kruskal-Wallis test. ^§𝑃<0.05 and ^§§𝑃<0.01 compared to healthy controls. ^#𝑃<0.05 and ^##𝑃<0.01 compared to other DPLD.