Division of Clinical Lab, Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, China.
School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325025, Zhejiang, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 16;7:40414. doi: 10.1038/srep40414.
Th17 and regulatory T cells, involved in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune diseases, are new lineages of CD4+ T helper cells. However, the role of their imbalance in human leukocyte antigen B27-associated acute anterior uveitis has not been elucidated. In our study, the percentages of Th17 and Treg cells, their molecular markers and related factors in peripheral blood of patients and healthy controls were measured by flow cytometry, real-time RT-PCR and ELISA. We observed a remarkable increase of CD4+ and CD4+IL-17+ T cells in peripheral blood of patients compared to controls. The molecular markers and related factors of Th17 cell were also showed a distinct elevation. Interestingly, we observed an obvious decrease of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells and Foxp3 mRNA level in patients. The ratio of Th17/Treg in patients was dramatically higher than controls. Moreover, the ratio of Th17/Treg cells had a more significantly positive correlation with the disease activity score than Th17 cells whereas Treg cells had a negative correlation. Our findings demonstrated a distinct increase of Th17 cells and a significant decrease of Treg cells in patients compared to controls. The imbalance of Th17 and Treg cells may play a vital role in the pathogenesis of the disease.
Th17 和调节性 T 细胞参与了多种自身免疫性疾病的发病机制，是 CD4+T 辅助细胞的新谱系。然而，它们在人类白细胞抗原 B27 相关的急性前葡萄膜炎中的失衡作用尚未阐明。在我们的研究中，通过流式细胞术、实时 RT-PCR 和 ELISA 测量了患者和健康对照者外周血中 Th17 和 Treg 细胞及其分子标志物和相关因子的百分比。我们观察到与对照组相比，患者外周血中 CD4+和 CD4+IL-17+T 细胞显著增加。Th17 细胞的分子标志物和相关因子也明显升高。有趣的是，我们观察到患者中 CD4+CD25+Foxp3+T 细胞和 Foxp3mRNA 水平明显降低。患者的 Th17/Treg 比值明显高于对照组。此外，与 Th17 细胞相比，Th17/Treg 细胞的比值与疾病活动评分具有更显著的正相关性，而 Treg 细胞则呈负相关。我们的研究结果表明，与对照组相比，患者中 Th17 细胞明显增加，Treg 细胞显著减少。Th17 和 Treg 细胞的失衡可能在疾病的发病机制中起重要作用。
