3.4 The proportion of CD161+CD56+NK cells decreased significantly in active pSS patients
Based on ESDDAI score, pSS patients with ESSDAI≥5 were defined as activegroup, and ESSDAI<5 were defined as inactive group[15].We analyzed the
difference of proportion between CD56+NK cells and CD161+CD56+NK cells
in active and inactive pSS patients and HCs, and we observed that CD56+NK cells proportion decreased in active and inactive pSS patients compared with
HCs(active vs. HCs: 8.81%(5.13%-20.00%) vs.13.75%(8.90%-26.40%),P =0.002.
inactive vs. HCs: 9.50%(3.05%-21.80%) vs.13.75%(8.90%-26.40%),P =0.007)
(Fig.3A), but there was no statistical difference between active and inactive
pSS patients(8.81%(5.13%-20.00%) vs. 9.50%(3.05%-21.80%),P =0.429)(Fig.3A).
Regarding the difference of CD161+CD56+NK cells proportion in active and inactive pSS patients and HCs, we found that not only CD161+CD56+NK cells proportion in active and inactive pSS patients was obviously lower than that in HCs(active vs. HCs:55.04%±18.73% vs.77.38%±10.53%,P <0.0001. inactive vs. HCs:69.06%±11.39% vs.77.38%±10.53%,P =0.014)(Fig.3B), but also the proportion of CD161+CD56+NK cells in active pSS patients significantly decreased compared with inactive pSS patients(55.04%±18.73% vs. 69.06%±11.39%,P =0.016)(Fig.3B).