Bone and Cytokine Markers Associated With Bone Disease in Systemic Mastocytosis

Plasma protein profiling to discern indolent from advanced systemic mastocytosis

Mastocytosis is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by abnormal mast cell accumulation, in which the clinical severity may be explained by distinct molecular mechanisms. This study aimed to explore plasma protein biomarkers associated with systemic mastocytosis subtypes, as well as the cellular origin of the identified proteins. Plasma samples from patients with mastocytosis, including cutaneous mastocytosis (CM), indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM), advanced SM (AdvSM), and a reference group of patients with polycythemia vera (PCV), were analyzed by Proximity Extension Assay (OLINK technology) targeting 275 proteins. Furthermore, potential cellular origin was explored using an available scRNA sequencing data set generated from ISM patients. The study cohort included 16 patients with CM, 92 patients with SM (ISM, n=80; AdvSM, n=12), and 60 PCV patients. A Principal Component Analysis based on 275 plasma proteins revealed one cluster of CM and ISM patients that was separated from AdvSM patients. Up to 29 proteins were associated to distinct severe activity in SM patients (ISM vs AdvSM), including IL-1RT1, and TNFSF13B (q<0.01). Furthermore, scRNA seq analysis from ISM-derived bone marrow cells revealed that the mRNA for the identified proteins was not exclusive of mast cells. Distinct plasma protein profiles show potential to refine ISM and AdvSM diagnoses, possibly reflecting differences in pathogenic mechanisms and diverse clinical manifestations.

Osteoporosis: interferon-gamma-mediated bone remodeling in osteoimmunology

As the world population ages, osteoporosis, the most common disease of bone metabolism, affects more than 200 million people worldwide. The etiology is an imbalance in bone remodeling process resulting in more significant bone resorption than bone remodeling. With the advent of the osteoimmunology field, the immune system's role in skeletal pathologies is gradually being discovered. The cytokine interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), a member of the interferon family, is an important factor in the etiology and treatment of osteoporosis because it mediates bone remodeling. This review starts with bone remodeling process and includes the cellular and key signaling pathways of bone remodeling. The effects of IFN-γ on osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and bone mass are discussed separately, while the overall effects of IFN-γ on primary and secondary osteoporosis are summarized. The net effect of IFN-γ on bone appears to be highly dependent on the environment, dose, concentration, and stage of cellular differentiation. This review focuses on the mechanisms of bone remodeling and bone immunology, with a comprehensive discussion of the relationship between IFN-γ and osteoporosis. Finding the paradoxical balance of IFN-γ in bone immunology and exploring the potential of its clinical application provide new ideas for the clinical treatment of osteoporosis and drug development.

Systemic Inflammatory Regulators Associated with Osteoporosis: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study

To elucidate the precise upstream and downstream regulatory mechanisms of inflammatory factors in osteoporosis (OP) progression and to establish a causal relationship between inflammatory factors and OP. We conducted bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses using data for 41 cytokines obtained from three independent cohorts comprising 8293 Finnish individuals. Estimated bone mineral density (eBMD) data were derived from 426,824 UK Biobank White British individuals (55% female) and fracture data from 416,795 UK Biobank participants of European ancestry. The inverse variance-weighted method was the primary MR analysis approach. We employed other methods as complementary approaches for mutual corroboration. To test for pleiotropy and heterogeneity, we used the MR-Egger regression, MR-pleiotropy residual sum and outlier global test, and the Cochrane Q test. Macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α and interleukin (IL)-12p70 expression associated negatively and causally with eBMD (β = -0.017 [MIP-1α], β = -0.011 [IL-12p70]). Conversely, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand was associated with a decreased risk of fractures (Odds Ratio: 0.980). Additionally, OP influenced the expression of multiple inflammatory factors, including growth-regulated oncogene-α, interferon-gamma, IL-6, beta nerve growth factor, and IL-2. Finally, we discovered complex bidirectional causal relationships between IL-8, IL-10, and OP. Specific inflammatory factors may contribute to OP development or may be causally affected by OP. We identified a bidirectional causal relationship between certain inflammatory factors and OP. These findings provide new perspectives for early prediction and targeted treatment of OP. Larger cohort studies are necessary in the future to further validate these findings.

T-cell immune profile in blood of systemic mastocytosis: Association with disease features

BACKGROUND

Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by an expansion of KIT-mutated mast cells (MC). KIT-mutated MC display activated features and release MC mediators that might act on the tumour microenvironment and other immune cells. Here, we investigated the distribution of lymphocyte subsets in blood of patients with distinct subtypes of SM and determined its association with other disease features.

METHODS

We studied the distribution of TCD4+ and TCD4- cytotoxic cells and their subsets, as well as total NK- and B cells, in blood of 115 SM patients-38 bone marrow mastocytosis (BMM), 67 indolent SM (ISM), 10 aggressive SM (ASM)- and 83 age-matched healthy donors (HD), using spectral flow cytometry and the EuroFlow Immunomonitoring panel, and correlated it with multilineage KITD816V , the alpha-tryptasemia genotype (HαT) and the clinical manifestations of the disease.

RESULTS

SM patients showed decreased counts (vs. HD) of TCD4- cytotoxic cells, NK cells and several functional subsets of TCD4+ cells (total Th1, Th2-effector memory, Th22-terminal effector and Th1-like Tregs), together with increased T-follicular-helper and Th1/Th17-like Treg counts, associated with different immune profiles per diagnostic subtype of SM, in multilineal versus MC-restricted KITD816V and in cases with a HαT+ versus HαT- genotype. Unique immune profiles were found among BMM and ISM patients with MC-restricted KITD816V who displayed HαT, anaphylaxis, hymenoptera venom allergy, bone disease, pruritus, flushing and GI symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Our results reveal altered T- and NK-cell immune profiles in blood of SM, which vary per disease subtype, the pattern of involvement of haematopoiesis by KITD816V , the HαT genotype and specific clinical manifestations of the disease.