ABSTRACT
Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of complete lung cancer resection on the balance of Th17/Treg cells in the peripheral blood of lung cancer patients. Methods Flow cytometry was used to detect the percentage of Th17 and Treg cells in the peripheral blood of 21 patients with lung cancer before and after operation and 21 healthy controls. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of fork-head/winged helix transcription factor( Foxp3) and retinoic acid-related orphan receptor γt ( RORγt)in PBMC. The plasma levels of interleukin(IL) -17 and transforming growth factor(TGF) -β1 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Results After surgery,the percentage of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood decreased and the percentage of Treg cells increased in patients when compared to the pre -operation ( P <0. 01). After surgery,the expression of RORγt was decreased and the expression of Foxp3 was increased in the CD4 +T cells of patients in comparison with the pre-opera-tion(P<0. 01). After surgery,the expression of IL-17 was decreased and the expression of TGF-β1 was increased in the plasma of patients in comparison with the pre -operation( P <0. 01). In addition,the percentage of Th17 and Treg cells,the expression of RORγt and Foxp3,and the expression of IL-17 and TGF-β in the peripheral blood were increased in preoperative lung cancer pa-tients when compared to healthy controls. Conclusion There is a Th17/Treg imbalance in the peripheral blood of lung cancer pa-tients after complete resection of lung cancer.