Wang Wei-wei, Wang Zhen-meng, Liu Yao-yang, Qin Yang-hua, Shen Qian
Department of Laboratory Diagnosis, Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi. 2010 Oct;32(10):757-61.
To investigate the potential correlation between the level of Th17 cells in peripheral blood and the development of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Th17 cells in the blood samples from 61 HCC patients and 38 healthy controls were assessed by flow cytometry (FCM). The mRNA expression levels of IL-17, IL-23p19 and RORc in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were detected by quantitative real-time PCR. The potential correlation of increased Th17 cells in blood with the clinical characteristics of the 61 patients, including gender, age, preoperative AFP concentration, tumor diameter, portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT), metastasis and TNM stages was analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using the software GraphPad Prizm 5.0.
The number of Th17 cells in 61 HCC patients was significantly higher than that in the normal controls (4.67% ± 0.79% vs 3.25% ± 0.68%, P < 0.0001). The same tendency was also found in the mRNA levels of IL-17, IL-23p19 and RORc in PBMC (P < 0.05). The increased level of Th17 cells in HCC patients showed a positive correlation with the tumor size, PVTT, metastasis and TNM stages (P < 0.05 for each group). The level of Th17 cells in HCC patients was increased along with the increasing TNM stages I to stage IV: 4.05% ± 0.82%, 4.32% ± 0.67%, 4.94% ± 0.70%, and 5.22% ± 0.87%, respectively, where the level of Th17 cells in patients with advanced stage of HCC (III-IV) was significantly higher than that in early stage (I-II, P = 0.0008).
The increased of level of Th17 cells in peripheral blood of HCC is significantly correlated with the tumor size, PVTT, metastasis and TNM stage, indicating that the Th17 cells might participate in promoting invasion and progression of HCC directly or indirectly by secreting characteristic cytokines.
探讨外周血中Th17细胞水平与人类肝细胞癌（HCC）发生发展的潜在相关性。
采用流式细胞术（FCM）检测61例HCC患者和38例健康对照者血样中的Th17细胞。通过定量实时PCR检测外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）中IL-17、IL-23p19和RORc的mRNA表达水平。分析血液中Th17细胞增多与61例患者临床特征（包括性别、年龄、术前甲胎蛋白浓度、肿瘤直径、门静脉癌栓（PVTT）、转移及TNM分期）之间的潜在相关性。使用GraphPad Prizm 5.0软件进行统计分析。
61例HCC患者的Th17细胞数量显著高于正常对照组（4.67%±0.79%对3.25%±0.68%，P<0.0001）。PBMC中IL-17、IL-23p19和RORc的mRNA水平也呈现相同趋势（P<0.05）。HCC患者中Th17细胞水平升高与肿瘤大小、PVTT、转移及TNM分期呈正相关（每组P<0.05）。HCC患者的Th17细胞水平随TNM分期从I期到IV期升高：分别为4.05%±0.82%、4.32%±0.67%、4.94%±0.70%和5.22%±0.87%，其中HCC晚期（III-IV期）患者的Th17细胞水平显著高于早期（I-II期，P = 0.0008）。
HCC患者外周血中Th17细胞水平升高与肿瘤大小、PVTT、转移及TNM分期显著相关，表明Th17细胞可能通过分泌特征性细胞因子直接或间接参与促进HCC的侵袭和进展。
