CTLA4 Gene Expression in Type 1 Diabetes Patients with CMV Infection in Pointe-Noire
Aladin ATANDI BATCHY, Luc Magloire Anicet BOUMBA, Charley Loumade ELENGA-BONGO, Freddy Saturnin POUKI, Ben Dorel KYABAAMBU, Fredy KIBOUILOU, Brunel KAYA GONDO, Monde Valsy IKIA, Christ NKAYA KIMPOLO, Constantin MOUKOUMA, Samira EKORO SAMBA, Ghislain LOUBANO VOUMBI, Donatien MOUKASSA.
Background: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of pancreatic cells. Objective: The aim of this work was to measure CTLA4 gene expression in T1D patients with CMV infection.
Materials and Methods: We carried out an analytical case-control study over 6 months between June and November 2022. A total of 234 subjects were enrolled, of whom 68 T1D with positive CMV serology (T1D+CMV+) constituted the case group; 62 T1D with negative CMV serology (T1D+CMV-) constituted the diseased control group and 104 healthy subjects constituted the healthy control group. The determination of the plasma concentrations of CD4, CD8 and CD28 was carried out by ELISA. CTLA4 gene expression was measured by real-time PCR using the double delta technique. The correlation of CD4, CD8 and CD28 and the expression of the CTLA4 gene was studied by linear regression.
Results: The mean age in the different study groups was respectively: 20.85 ± 0.63 years for cases, 21.88 ± 4.07 years for T1+CMV- and 31.95 ± 2.13 years for healthy controls.
Plasma concentrations of different lymphocyte types were higher in the case group compared to controls (CD4: 7.21 ± 0.23 vs 5.71 ± 3.27 vs 2.07 ± 0.14, CD8: 13.73 ± 0.91 vs 10.01 ± 1.88 vs 1.27 ± 0.14; CD28: 45.95 ± 2. 18 vs 14.39 ± 1.99 vs 7.97 ± 1.96) with a statistically significant difference (p0.0001). The CTLA4 gene was overexpressed in the case group compared to the control group. The study of the correlation between CD4, CD8, CD28, and CTLA4 gene expression showed no direct relationship.
Conclusion: Our results showed that CMV infection could be an aggravating factor in T1D by promoting the over expression of the CTLA4 gene.
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