Department of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi Province, China.
BMC Immunol. 2011 Aug 19;12:47. doi: 10.1186/1471-2172-12-47.
IL-17(+) T helper cells and Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells are CD4(+) T helper cells with reciprocally regulated differentiation and function. Their frequency and function vary in patients with chronic hepatitis B. In this study, we investigated the balance between IL-17(+) T cells and Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells and illustrated their function in the aggravation of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
Twenty-six patients with chronic HBV -related liver failure (CLF), thirty-one patients with acute on chronic HBV-related liver failure (ACLF) and twelve normal controls were enrolled in our study. The expressions of IL-17, Foxp3, CD4, CD8 and perforin in liver tissue were measured by immunochemistry for the evaluation of liver-infiltrating lymphocytes. The frequency of liver IL-17(+) T cells on liver inflammatory cells and their proportion in the total CD4(+) T cell population increased markedly in the ACLF group, while the frquency of Foxp3+ T cells and their proportion in the total CD4(+) T cell population did not show a significant difference in the two HBV infection groups. In addition, the ACLF group showed a dramatically higher IL-17(+) /Foxp3(+) ratio than the CLF group. CD4(+) T cells increased significantly in the liver of patients with ACLF, compared with those in the liver of patients with CLF.
Our findings suggest that intrahepatic IL-17(+) T cells play an important role in the development of chronic HBV and that the imbalance between IL-17(+) and Foxp3(+) T cells in the liver may lead to progression of the disease but the mechanism should be further explored.
IL-17(+)T 辅助细胞和 Foxp3(+)调节性 T 细胞是具有相互调节分化和功能的 CD4(+)T 辅助细胞。它们的频率和功能在慢性乙型肝炎患者中有所不同。在这项研究中，我们研究了 IL-17(+)T 细胞和 Foxp3(+)调节性 T 细胞之间的平衡，并说明了它们在慢性乙型肝炎（CHB）加重中的作用。
我们纳入了 26 例慢性乙型肝炎相关肝衰竭（CLF）患者、31 例慢性乙型肝炎相关慢加急性肝衰竭（ACLF）患者和 12 例正常对照者。通过免疫组织化学检测肝组织中 IL-17、Foxp3、CD4、CD8 和穿孔素的表达，以评估肝浸润淋巴细胞。ACLF 组肝炎症细胞中肝内 IL-17(+)T 细胞的频率及其在总 CD4(+)T 细胞群体中的比例显著增加，而在两个乙型肝炎感染组中 Foxp3+T 细胞的频率及其在总 CD4(+)T 细胞群体中的比例均无显著差异。此外，ACLF 组的 IL-17(+) /Foxp3(+)比值明显高于 CLF 组。与 CLF 组患者相比，ACLF 组患者肝内 CD4(+)T 细胞显著增加。
我们的研究结果表明，肝内 IL-17(+)T 细胞在慢性乙型肝炎的发展中起重要作用，肝内 IL-17(+)和 Foxp3(+)T 细胞之间的失衡可能导致疾病的进展，但机制仍需进一步探讨。
