Systemic Sclerosis and Innate T Cells

May 21, 2026 updated by: Poitiers University Hospital

Role of Innate T Cells in Physiopathology of Systemic Sclerosis

Innate T cells (ITC) are decreased in systemic sclerosis (SS) and an early lymphocyte innateness has been reported. In the other part, ITC are implicated on inflammatory process, including the IL-33/ST2 axis, which is also involved in ScS endotheliopathy.

Data are however scarce and physiopathological mechanisms have not been assessed to date.

The investigators hypothesize a global lymphocyte innateness in SSc, linked to a chronic ITC stimulation by innate signals leading to ITC exhaustion, and their potential role in endotheliopathy and fibroblast activation in SSc.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
235

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • France
      • Poitiers, France
        • CHU Poitiers

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • SSc according to the 2013 ACR/EULAR 2013 criteria (or the 2001 Leroy's criteria for early SSc)

  • Patients with others connective tissue disease:

    • Systemic erythematosus lupus (SLE) according to the 2019 ACR/EULAR criteria
    • Primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) according to the 2016 ACR/EULAR criteria
    • Rheumatoid arthritis according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria
    • Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) according to the 2017 ACR/EULAR criteria
  • Healthy subjects from general population without known autoimmune disease or connective tissue disease
  • ≥18 years-old

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Overlap syndrome (including secondary Sjögren syndrome)
  • Weight <55 kgs
  • Known primary cell immunodeficiency
  • Past of autologous or allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
  • Solid neoplasia or malignant hemopathy in remission for less than 12 months an
  • Chemotherapy and/or immune checkpoint inhibitors in the last 12 months
  • Systemic retinoids
  • Active infection and/or antibiotics in the last 2 weeks
  • Known active chronic infection among HIV, HTLV, viral hepatitis, syphilis
  • Vaccination in the last 4 weeks
  • Subject refusing genetic analysis for the present study
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Other: Blood test
Unique blood test for all the participants included in the study to constitute a local biobank to assess in a grouped manner the prespecified outcomes
Other: Blood test
Unique blood draw of 45mL for all the participants

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Basal numeration of circulating ITC (iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Percentage AND absolute count of iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T- cells in flow cytometry among total T cells in SSc patients (n=60), patients with other connective tissue disease (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, primary Sjögren's syndrome, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies) (n=60), and in healthy subjects (n=60)
Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Basal expression level of Ki67 among circulating ITC (iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Percentage of iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells expressing Ki67 in flow cytometry in SSc patients (n=60), patients with other connective tissue disease (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, primary Sjögren's syndrome, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies) (n=60), and in healthy subjects (n=60)
Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Basal expression level of PLZF AND Eomes AND T-bet AND Helios of circulating ITC (iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Percentage of iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells expressing PLZF, Eomes, T-bet and Helios in flow cytometry in SSc patients (n=60), patients with other connective tissue disease (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, primary Sjögren's syndrome, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies) (n=60), and in healthy subjects (n=60)
Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Basal expression of perforin AND granzyme A among circulating ITC (iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Percentage of iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells expressing perforin and granzyme A in flow cytometry in SSc patients (n=60), patients with other connective tissue disease (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, primary Sjögren's syndrome, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies) (n=60), and in healthy subjects (n=60)
Through study completion, an average of 1 year
IFN-ɣ, IL-4 and IL-17 production of iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells in response to IL-1, IL-8, IL-12, IL-18, IL-33 and fractalkine
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Percentage of iNKT, MAIT, γδ-T and innate CD8(+) T-cells expressing IFN-ɣ AND IL-4 AND IL-17 in flow cytometry upon stimulation by various combinations of IL-1, IL-8, IL-12, IL-18, IL-33 and fractalkine in SSc patients (n=60), patients with other connective tissue disease (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, primary Sjögren's syndrome, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies) (n=60), and in healthy subjects (n=60)
Through study completion, an average of 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Poitiers University Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 28, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 12, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 17, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 23, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 29, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 9, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 21, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Sclero-LTI

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings