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Published on: February 27, 2019
A Comparative Evaluation of Regulatory T Cells Profile among Acute and Chronic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Using Flow
Fahimeh Firouzjaie-Karder1, Behnaz Akhoundi1, Mehdi Mohebali1,2
1Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Insights
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) showed marginally significant differences between acute and chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) phases. Further research is needed to confirm the role of Tregs in CL progression.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Dermatology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a significant global health concern.
- Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are key immune markers.
- Flow cytometry is a primary method for quantifying Tregs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of Tregs in acute and chronic human CL.
- To analyze Treg profiles using flow cytometry.
Main Methods:
- Peripheral blood samples from 24 acute CL patients, 14 chronic CL patients, and 15 healthy controls were analyzed.
- Percentage of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Tregs was determined via flow cytometry.
Main Results:
- Average Treg percentages were 5.73% (acute CL), 6.71% (chronic CL), and 6.61% (healthy controls).
- Statistically significant differences were observed between groups (P=0.04).
- A marginally significant difference was found between acute and chronic CL groups (P=0.088).
Conclusions:
- Marginal but significant differences in Treg averages exist between acute and chronic CL phases.
- Further studies are required to fully elucidate the function of Tregs in CL.
Background:
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is described as a major health problem in many countries of the world. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are characterized as one of immunologic indexes. One of the best methods to determine of Tregs percentage is flow cytometry. The aim of this study was determination of the role of Tregs profile among acute and chronic forms of human CL using flow cytometry analysis.
Methods:
This study was conducted on 24 patients referred to Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran with acute and 14 patients with chronic phases of CL as well as 15 healthy individuals as control group in 2015-2016. After microscopic examination, 2 ml of peripheral blood samples were collected for determining percentage of CD4 + CD25 + CD127 low Tregs by using flow cytometry method.
Results:
Using flow cytometry analysis, the average percentage of Tregs were calculated 5.73, 6.71 and 6.61 for acute, chronic and healthy individuals, respectively. With SPSS software and Scheffe multiple comparison tests, the differences within in these groups are statistically significant (P=0.04) and between the acute and chronic group, there was marginally significant with approximately 91% of confidence level (P=0.088).
Conclusion:
Marginally differences were found significantly among averages of Regulatory T cells, acute and chronic phases of CL. Further comprehensive studies can be needed to verify the role of Tregs in both phases of CL cases.
