[Imbalance of treg/th17 in bone marrow of patients with multiple myeloma]

The purpose of this study was to detect the distribution of Treg and Th17 cells in bone marrow and to investigate the relationship of Treg/Th17 imbalance with the pathogenesis and progression of multiple myeloma (MM). The Bone marrow was collected from 37 MM patients and 12 healthy volunteers, the ratio of Treg and Th17 cells was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of Treg and Th17 cells simultaneously was examined in peripheral blood of 19 MM patients with same method. The results indicated that the frequency of Treg cells was higher in MM patients than that in control group (P < 0.05), there was a trend of increasing of Treg cell number in the ISS stage from I+II to III (P < 0.05). Furthermore, in the patients with MM, the Treg cell number in bone marrow was higher than that in peripheral blood (P < 0.05). Th17 cell rate was not statistically different between MM patients and control group (P > 0.05), and at different ISS stage (P > 0.05). Th17 cell number between bone marrow and peripheral blood was not significantly different (P > 0.05).The ratio of Treg/Th17 in patients with MM was higher than that in control group (P < 0.05), and increased gradually from ISS stage I+II to stage III (P < 0.05). It is concluded that the Treg/Th17 immune imbalance is presenced in bone marrow of patients with MM, this imbalance may promote the progression of MM.