Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37549449›Full record

ArticleJournal of autoimmunity2023

Clinical utility of measuring CD4

Brenna LaBere, Alan A Nguyen, Saddiq B Habiballah, Megan Elkins, Juliet Imperial, Betty Li, Sridevi Devana, Suraj Timilsina, Spencer B Stubbs, Jill Joerger and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of autoimmunity, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. T follicular helper cells in primary immune regulatory disorders.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2025
    Review
  4. T-cell and autoantibody profiling for primary immune regulatory disorders.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2025
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Brenna LaBereDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Alan A NguyenDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Saddiq B HabiballahDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Megan ElkinsDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Juliet ImperialDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Betty LiDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Sridevi DevanaTakeda, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Suraj TimilsinaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Spencer B StubbsDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jill JoergerDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Janet ChouDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Craig D PlattDivision of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Laboratory Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: craig.platt@childrens.harvard.edu.

Funding

Training of Clinical Investigators in Primary Immune DeficienciesU54AI082973 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI PUCK, JENNIFER M. · 2009 to 2023
$23.3M
MOLECULAR BASIS OF ALLERGIC AND IMMUNOLOGIC DISEASET32AI007512 · NIAID · CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL BOSTON · PI Janet Chou, Peter A Nigrovic · 1996 to 2026
$13.1M
Mechanisms of pediatric overweight and obesity underlying susceptibility to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)R01DK130465 · NIDDK · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI CHOU, JANET · 2021 to 2023
$1.4M
NIAID NIH HHS T32 AI007512NIAID NIH HHS U54 AI082973NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK130465
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mechanistic studies of autoimmune disorders have identified circulating T follicular helper (cTfh) cells as drivers of autoimmunity. However, the quantification of cTfh cells is not yet used in clinical practice due to the lack of age-stratified normal ranges and the unknown sensitivity and specificity of this test for autoimmunity. We enrolled 238 healthy participants and 130 patients with common and rare disorders of autoimmunity or autoinflammation. Patients with infections, active malignancy, or any history of transplantation were excluded. In 238 healthy controls, median cTfh percentages (range 4.8%-6.2%) were comparable among age groups, sexes, races, and ethnicities, apart from a significantly lower percentages in children less than 1 year of age (median 2.1%, CI: 0.4%-6.8, p < 0.0001). Among 130 patients with over 40 immune regulatory disorders, a cTfh percentage exceeding 12% had 88% sensitivity and 94% specificity for differentiating disorders with adaptive immune cell dysregulation from those with predominantly innate cell defects. This threshold had a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 100% for active autoimmunity and normalized with effective treatment. cTfh percentages exceeding 12% distinguish autoimmunity from autoinflammation, thereby differentiating two endotypes of immune dysregulation with overlapping symptoms and different therapies.

Indexed as

T Follicular Helper CellsAdolescentAdultAgedAutoimmune DiseasesAutoimmunityCase-Control StudiesCD4-Positive T-LymphocytesChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMaleMiddle AgedSensitivity and SpecificityAutoimmunityEvans syndromeImmune dysregulationPrimary immune regulatory disorderT follicular helper cells

Identifiers

PMID37549449
PMCPMC10839119

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.