Ji Xiaoyun, Bie Qingli, Liu Yingzhao, Chen Jianguo, Su Zhaoliang, Wu Yumin, Ying Xinyu, Yang Huijian, Wang Shengjun, Xu Huaxi
Department of Immunology, School of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, Jiangsu University Zhenjiang 212013, PR China.
Department of Endocrinology, The Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University Zhenjiang 212001, PR China.
Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2014 Oct 15;7(11):7554-62. eCollection 2014.
Newly identified nuocytes play an important role in Th2 cell mediated immunity such as protective immune responses to helminth parasites, allergic asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis. However, the contributions of nuocytes in the occurrence and development of Graves' hyperthyroidism remains unknown. Previous studies found that there was a predominant Th2 phenotype in patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism, it might relate to polarization of nuocytes. Nuocytes were defined by transcription factor RORα, various cell surface markers (T1/ST2, IL-17RB, ICOS, CD45) and associated cytokines. In this study, these cells related genes or molecules in PBMC from patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism were measured, and the potential correlation between them was analyzed. The expression levels of T1/ST2, IL-17RB, ICOS, IL-5 and IL-13, which represented nuocytes associated molecules were significantly increased in patients, meanwhile, the RORα mRNA also had a tendency to increase. In addition, IFN-γ and T-bet (Th1 related cytokine and transcription factor) were obviously decreased, and there was a positive correlation between IL-17RB and IL-13. These results suggested that there were polarized nuocytes in Graves' hyperthyroidism patients, and which closely related to the down-regulation of Th1 cells or relatively advantage of Th2 differentiation.
新发现的nuocytes细胞在Th2细胞介导的免疫反应中发挥重要作用，如对蠕虫寄生虫的保护性免疫反应、过敏性哮喘和慢性鼻窦炎。然而，nuocytes细胞在格雷夫斯氏甲状腺功能亢进症发生和发展中的作用尚不清楚。先前的研究发现，格雷夫斯氏甲状腺功能亢进症患者存在主要的Th2表型，这可能与nuocytes细胞的极化有关。Nuocytes细胞由转录因子RORα、各种细胞表面标志物（T1/ST2、IL-17RB、ICOS、CD45）和相关细胞因子定义。在本研究中，检测了格雷夫斯氏甲状腺功能亢进症患者外周血单个核细胞中这些与细胞相关的基因或分子，并分析了它们之间的潜在相关性。代表nuocytes细胞相关分子的T1/ST2、IL-17RB、ICOS、IL-5和IL-13的表达水平在患者中显著升高，同时，RORα mRNA也有升高趋势。此外，IFN-γ和T-bet（Th1相关细胞因子和转录因子）明显降低，且IL-17RB与IL-13之间存在正相关。这些结果表明，格雷夫斯氏甲状腺功能亢进症患者存在极化的nuocytes细胞，且这与Th1细胞下调或Th2分化相对优势密切相关。
