Expression of Treg/Th17 cells as well as related cytokines in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

To investigate the expressions of peripheral regulatory T cells (Treg) and T helper cells (Th17) as well as related cytokines in peripheral blood of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

One hundred four cases of IBD patients admitted in our hospital were selected for this study. One hundred cases of people receiving healthy physical examination were included in the control group in the corresponding period. The levels of CD4⁺CD25⁺Treg and Th17 subsets were analyzed in peripheral blood of two groups using flow cytometry. The expressions of IL-10, TGF-β1, IL-17 and IL-23 mRNA and protein were detected using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and ELISA.

Compared with the control group, the proportion of Treg in peripheral blood was decreased significantly in observation group (P<0.05), the proportion of Th17 cells was increased significantly (P<0.05), and Treg/Th17 was decreased significantly (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the expressions of IL-10 and TGF-β1 mRNA and protein in peripheral blood of patients were significantly down-regulated in observation group, while the expressions of Th17 cytokines IL-17 and IL-23 mRNA and protein were significantly increased (P<0.05).

The proportion of Th17 and increased cytokine level suggested the inflammatory level was higher in IBD patients. The down regulations of Treg and cytokine suggested that the immunosuppression function was down-regulated in IBD patients, and the disproportionality might be one of the mechanisms of IBD.