Cellular immunity abnormalities in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

To investigate the cellular immunity abnormalities in patients with ankylosing spondylitis（AS）, peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations, NK cell activity and the production of IL-2 were analysed and compared with those of healthy controls. The results showed that the percentage of T4, T8, Tac and the ratio of T4/T8 in patients with AS were comparable to healthy controls. Marked decrease of NK cell activity and poor response to IL-2 stimulation were also noticed. The data also showed that there was significant overproduction of IL-2 in patients with AS. We concluded that there were severe cellular immunity abnormalities in patients with AS which may contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease.