Immune System Response to Hsp 60

Kamphuis, S., Kuis, W., deJager, W., Teklenburg, G., Massa, M., Gordon, G., Boerhof, M., Rijkers, G.T., Uiterwaal, C.S., Otten, H.G., Sette, A., Albani, S., Prakken, B.J. (2005). Tolerogenic immune responses to novel T-cell epitopes from heat-shock protein 60 in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. www.thelancet.com, 366, 50-56.

Kamphuis et al. (2005) conducted a study on the effects of heat shock proteins (HSP60) when introduced to subjects or patients suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Their interest and hypothesis was due to the positive results seen when these proteins were introduced to those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes. Researchers analyzed patterns of T-cell responses caused by HSP60 in 57 patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis while comparing them to controls.

Total test subjects numbered 104. Blood samples were taken from the 57 arthritics, 20 with juvenile onset diabetes, and 27 "healthy" children. Researchers used matrix based computer algorithms to select four pairs of potential HSP60 epitopes. Antigen specific activity of what researchers refer to as peripheral blood mononuclear cells, (PBMC) of these subjects were compared to samples from healthy controls for the purpose of observing T-cell responses.

Statistical analysis as well as tools of measurement was the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Researchers also used linear regression to account for age and sex differences. These researchers observed "positive responses for all eight HSP60 peptides in most PBMC from subjects with arthritis". Test subjects with type 1 diabetes did not have notable T-cell responses to these peptides. This study suggests that HSP60 epitopes identified in this study, with further research may lead to remission status of those suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis.