[Functional status of T helper cells in rheumatoid arthritis and effect of etanercept]

To ascertain the effect of etanercept treatment on the T-helper cells subsets (including Th1, Th2, Th17) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

20 RA patients and 10 age-matched healthy people were studied. The expression of IL-4, IFN-gamma and IL-17 on lymphocyte(CD4(+)) of RA patients peripheral blood were assessed by flow cytometry; Production of IFN-gamma, IL-4 and IL-17 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)in RA sera pre- and post-12 weeks of therapy and that of 10 normal health controls were studied; correlations between percentage of IFN-gamma Th1, IL-17(+)Th17, value of Th1/Th2 and clinical factors were observed in RA.

The percentage of Th1 and Th17, intensity of Th17 and value of Th1/Th2 were higher than the healthy controls (P<0.05); After etanercept treatment the percentage and intensity of Th17 were significantly decreased (P<0.01), as well as the percentage of Th1 and value of Th1/Th2 (P<0.05), level of IL-17 decreased significantly but IFN-gamma, IL-4 had no significant difference; The percentage of IL-17(+)Th17 on CD4(+) T cells correlate positively to CRP and DAS28.

Th17 cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of RA, the down regulation of Th17 and Th1/Th2 is significant for the evaluation of the curative effect of etanercept.