RESUMEN
Objective:To study the correlation between type 2 innate lymphocyte (ILC2) and Treg/Th17 ratio in the peripheral blood of patients at different stages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb) infection. Methods:This study recruited 30 individuals with active tuberculosis (ATB group), 26 with treated tuberculosis (RTB group), 22 with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI group) and 17 negative for tuberculin skin test (TST-negative group). Flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of ILC2 in CD45 + cells, and that of Th17 and Treg cells in CD4 + T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients in each group. Expression of Foxp3 and RORγt at mRNA level was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Pearson method was used to analyze the correlation between Th17 and Treg, and that between ILC2 and Treg/Th17 ratio in the peripheral blood of patients with ATB and RTB. Results:The proportions of ILC2 in RTB and ATB groups were significantly higher than those of LTBI and TST-negative groups, and the proportion of ILC2 in RTB group was significantly higher than that of ATB group ( P<0.05). The proportion of Th17 in RTB group was lower than that of ATB group ( P<0.05), and the proportions of Th17 in ATB and RTB groups were lower than those of LTBI and TST-negative groups. The proportion of Treg in RTB group was lower than that of ATB group ( P<0.05), and close to that of LTBI group and TST-negative group, but the Treg/Th17 ratios in ATB and RTB groups were higher than those of LTBI and TST-negative groups. There was no significant difference in Treg/Th17 ratio between ATB and RTB groups ( P>0.05). The expression of Foxp3 and RORγt at mRNA level and Foxp3/RORγt ratio changed accordingly. Meanwhile, there was no correlation between Th17 and Treg in ATB or RTB group ( r=0.023, P=0.444; r=0.428, P=0.150). There was a positive correlation between ILC2 and Treg/Th17 ratio in ATB group ( r=0.794, P=0.000), while no correlation was found between ILC2 and Treg/Th17 ratio in RTB group ( r=0.197, P=0.297). Conclusions:In this study, the proportion of ILC2 was increased in the peripheral blood of TB patients, and the proportion of ILC2 in RTB group was higher than that of ATB group. In RTB group, Th17 accounted for a low proportion in the peripheral blood and was involved in inflammatory reactions, while Tregs were not involved in inflammatory reactions, but might have a certain inhibitory effect in patients with ATB. Further studies found that Th17-involved inflammatory reactions were not regulated by Tregs. ILC2 was involved in Treg/Th17 imbalance in ATB patients, but not in RTB patients.
RESUMEN
Objective:To investigate the expression and ratio of CD4 +CD25 +Foxp3 +regulatory T cells (Tregs) to helper T cells 17 (Th17) in the peripheral blood of children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Method:54 children with newly diagnosed B-ALL in Children′s Hospital Capital Institute of Pediatrics from February 2017 to October 2019 were selected as the research subjects, with a median age of 4.9 (3.1 to 7.4) years. These children were divided into a pre-treatment group and a post-treatment group. According to the disease outcome after treatment, they were further divided into a complete remission group (45 cases), and a relapse/refractory group (9 cases). 20 healthy children were selected as the control group. Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to detect the proportions of CD4 +CD25 +Foxp3 +Treg cells and Th17 cells. The ratio of Treg/Th17 cells was calculated. Result:Before treatment, the proportion of Treg cells in the relapse/refractory group and the complete remission group (respectively 6.11±0.48, 6.20±1.16) were higher than those in the control group (4.89±1.46) (P<0.05), and the ratio of Treg/Th17 cells in peripheral blood of children with B-ALL in relapse/refractory stage and complete remission stage (respectively 8.34±2.14, 5.91±1.92) were higher than those in the control group (3.55±1.68) (P<0.05); The ratio of Treg/Th17 cells in the relapsed/refractory group was higher than that in the complete remission group (P<0.05). After treatment, the proportion of Treg cells and ratio of Treg/Th17 cells in peripheral blood of children with B-ALL in relapse/refractory stage (respectively 6.09±0.80, 7.37±1.19) were higher than those in complete remission stage (respectively 5.25±0.87, 4.22±1.50) and control group (respectively 4.89±1.46, 3.55±1.68) (P<0.05). Compared with that before treatment, children in complete remission stage after treatment had lower proportions of Treg cells and the ratio of Treg/Th17 cells, as well as higher proportions of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the proportions of Treg cells and Treg/Th17 ratio between the pre-treatment group and the post-treatment group of children in relapse/refractory stage (P>0.05).Conclusion:In peripheral blood of children with B-ALL, there is a ratio change of Treg/Th17 cells caused by the increase of CD4 +CD25 +Foxp3 +Treg cells and the decrease of Th17 cells, which tends to be normal with the remission of the disease. Regular detection of Treg and Th17 cells helps to monitor the immune status and provide prognosis of children with B-ALL, and may provide a basis for the immunotherapy of B-ALL.