Meng Xinying, Yu Xinjuan, Dong Quanjiang, Xu Xiaona, Li Jinghua, Xu Qianqian, Ma Jian, Zhou Changhong
Department of Health Care, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong 266000, P.R. China.
Central Laboratories, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong 266000, P.R. China.
Oncol Lett. 2018 Sep;16(3):3917-3922. doi: 10.3892/ol.2018.9112. Epub 2018 Jul 10.
Circulating follicular helper T (cTfh) cells are a novel subset of cluster of differentiation (CD)4+ helper T cells. Interleukin (IL)-21 and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL)13 are the principal effectors and chemotactic regulatory factors of Tfh. However, the roles of IL-21 and CXCL13 in gastric cancer have not yet been completely elucidated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of cTfh cells, and the expression of IL-21 and CXCL13 in patients with gastric cancer was evaluated in order to ascertain the significance and potential mechanisms of these effectors in gastric cancer. A total of 50 patients with gastric cancer were enrolled as the study subjects, with 30 healthy individuals selected as controls. The percentage of cTfh cells (cTfh%) in the peripheral blood was calculated using flow cytometry. They are identified in the present study as CD4+ chemokine C-X-C receptor (CXCR)5+ inducible T cell co-stimulator (ICOS)+ cells. The serum levels of IL-21 and CXCL13 were determined by ELISA. The cTfh% in the peripheral blood and the concentration of IL-21 and CXCL13 in the serum were significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer compared with the control group. cTfh% was significantly higher in patients with lymph node metastasis, Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) stage III-IV and low differentiation. The concentrations of IL-21 and CXCL13 in patients with lymph node metastasis and/or TNM III-IV were significantly higher than in those without lymph node metastasis or with TNM I-II. There was a positive correlation between cTfh%/CXCL13 and IL-21/CXCL13, while there was no correlation between cTfh%/IL-21. cTfh cells and associated factors (IL-21/CXCL13) may be involved in the development and progression of gastric cancer. There may be mutual regulation among cTfh cells, IL-21 and CXCL13.
循环滤泡辅助性T（cTfh）细胞是分化簇（CD）4⁺辅助性T细胞的一个新亚群。白细胞介素（IL）-21和C-X-C基序趋化因子配体（CXCL）13是Tfh的主要效应分子和趋化调节因子。然而，IL-21和CXCL13在胃癌中的作用尚未完全阐明。本研究的目的是调查cTfh细胞的分布，并评估胃癌患者中IL-21和CXCL13的表达，以确定这些效应分子在胃癌中的意义和潜在机制。共纳入50例胃癌患者作为研究对象，选取30例健康个体作为对照。采用流式细胞术计算外周血中cTfh细胞百分比（cTfh%）。在本研究中，它们被鉴定为CD4⁺趋化因子C-X-C受体（CXCR）5⁺诱导性T细胞共刺激分子（ICOS）⁺细胞。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）测定血清中IL-21和CXCL13水平。与对照组相比，胃癌患者外周血中的cTfh%以及血清中IL-21和CXCL13的浓度显著更高。有淋巴结转移、肿瘤-淋巴结-转移（TNM）分期为III-IV期和低分化的患者cTfh%显著更高。有淋巴结转移和/或TNM III-IV期患者的IL-21和CXCL13浓度显著高于无淋巴结转移或TNM I-II期患者。cTfh%/CXCL13与IL-21/CXCL13之间呈正相关，而cTfh%/IL-21之间无相关性。cTfh细胞及相关因子（IL-21/CXCL13）可能参与胃癌的发生和发展。cTfh细胞、IL-21和CXCL13之间可能存在相互调节作用。
