... project running and data analysis, and drafted the manu-script. TM, SF, YI, YK, and HM assisted in the study design and coordination, and oversaw the data analysis and drafting of the manuscript. ... interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Authors' contributionsHI and MJ designed the study. NHK, MT, YY, and FCM assisted in the studydesign, oversaw the project ... phosphate-bufferedsaline; PC5: phycoerythrin-cyanin 5.1; PE: phycoerythrin; SD: standard devia-tion; SSc: systemic sclerosis; TGF-β: transforming growth factor-β; TNF-α:tumour necrosis factor-α.Competing interestsThe...