ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the clinical significance of a series of cytokines and peripheral blood immunocyte subsets before and after immunosuppressive therapy in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).Methods The percentages of immunocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of 20 patients with ITP and 20 healthy controls were detected by flow cytometry,including CD3+,CD4+,CD8+,CD4+/CD8+,CD1~.ELISA was applied to detect the level of serum TNFα,IL-2,IL-6,IL-4,IL-10,IL-11,IL-17,IL-27,transforming growth factor β (TGFβ),thrombopoietin (TPO) of 20 patients with ITP and 20 healthy controls.Results The percentage of CD3+ T lymphocyte,CD4+ T lymphocyte and the ratio of CD4+ / CD8+ T lymphocyte in patients with ITP were lower than those in healthy controls [(62.66 ± 6.58) ％ vs (69.93 ± 4.81) ％,(29.46 ± 5.02) ％ vs (39.08 ± 3.50) ％,0.97 ± 0.35 vs 1.56 ± 0.26,all P ＜ 0.05].After immunosuppressive therapy,the percentage of CD3+ T lymphocyte,CD4+ T lymphocyte and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ T lymphocyte [(71.49 ±5.16)％,(39.25 ±3.21)％ and 1.56 ±0.28] recovered to the same levels in healthy controls.The percentage of CD8+ T lymphocyte and CD19+ B lymphocyte in patients with ITP were higher than those in the healthy controls [(30.28 ±4.63)％ vs (25.90±3.06)％,(18.92 ± 4.27)％ vs (13.17 ± 3.64)％,all P ＜ 0.05].After treatment of immunosuppressive therapy,the percentage of CD8+ T lymphocyte and CD19+ B lymphocyte [(25.16 ± 3.45) ％ and (11.98 ± 3.68) ％] recovered to the similar levels in healthy controls.The serum levels of IL-4,IL-6,IL-11,IL-17 and TPO in patients with ITP were significantly higher than those in healthy controls.While TGFβ level was significantly decreased.There was no significant difference of IL-27 between ITP patients and healthy controls.After the treatment of immunosuppressive therapy,IL-4,IL-6,IL-11,IL-17,TPO and TGFβ were down-regulated while IL-27 was up-regulated.There was no significant difference of IFNγ,TNFα,IL-2 and IL-10 among ITP patients before or after immunosuppressive therapy and healthy controls.Conclusions The present study suggests that the aberrant immunocyte subsets and cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of ITP.Hyper-function of Th2 and Th17,dysfunction of Treg cells,up-regulation of IL-27,IL-11,TPO and other factors may contribute to the pathogenesis of ITP.