Cellular immune response in Dupuytren's disease

Background: The pathogenesis of Dupuytren's disease is unclear, but inflammatory mechanisms might be supposed in the background. Materials and methods: The ratios of the subsets of monocytes and lymphocytes in the peripherl blood were measured according to the of the disease of 39 Dupuytren's patients. They were compared with those of 29 healthy, age-matched controls. The measurements were accomplished by flow-cytometry. Results: In an active stage, the patients had significantly increased ratios of monocytes, NK-like T-cells, whereas significantly decreased ratio of B-lymphocytes, including CD5+B-cells. The ratios of CD4+, CD8+ T-cells and NK-cells did not change significantly. In the advanced stage, the ratios of monocytes and B-lymphocytes remained constant, but the ratios of T-cells decreased significantly. In four cases among Dupuytren's patients, mature B- or T-cell lymphoid malignancies occured. Conclusions: Our results support the previous considerations that lymphocytes are involved in the pathogenesis of Dupuytren's disease and enhance the role of monocytes, NK-like T-cells and the alteration of immune response between the stages of the disease.