Effect of Th17 cells and Treg cells on immune evasion in patients with hepatic hydatid disease / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of Th17 cells and Treg cells on immune evasion in patients with hepatic hydatid disease. Methods From August 2008 to September 2009, 54 patients with hepatic hydatid disease who were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University and 20 healthy people (control group) were enrolled in this study. Of the 54 patients, 21 had liver cystic enchinococcosis (CE)(CE group), 15 had recurrent cystic echinococcosis (RCE) (RCE group) and 18 had liver alveolar echinococcosis(AE) (AE group). The serum concentrations of interleukin-17 (IL-17), IL-23, transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1) and IL-10 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All data were analysed by one-way analysis of variance, LSD-t test and Pearson correlation analysis. Results Serum IL-17 levels were significantlylower in the AE group [(11±3)ng/L], CE group [(13±4) ng/L] and RCE group [(13 ±5) ng/L]compared with those in the control group [(16±5) ng/L] ( F = 6.53, P ＜ 0.05 ). There was no significant difference in serum IL-17 levels between the CE and RCE groups (t =0.22, P ＞0.05). Serum levels of IL-23were also lower in the AE group [(72±27) ng/L], CE group [( 106±53) ng/L] and RCE group [( 107±48 ) ng/L] compared with those in the control group [( 139±50) ngg/L] ( F = 6.74, P ＜ 0.05 ), while there was no significant difference between the CE and RCE groups (t =0.02, P＞0.05). The serum levels of IL-10 were significantly higher in the AE group [(5.5±2.2) ng/L], CE group [(4.3±2.0) ng/L] and RCE group [(4.2 ± 1.4) ng/L] compared with those in the control group [(3.1 ± 0.8 ) ng/L] ( F = 9.78, P ＜ 0.05 ),with no significant differences between the CE and RCE groups ( t = 0.14, P ＞ 0.05 ). TGF-β1 levels were significantly higher in the AE group [(38±7) μg/L], CE group [(37±7) μg/L] and RCE group [(33±9) μg/L]compared with those in the control group [( 26±7) μg,/L] ( F = 6.73, P＜ 0.05 ), with no significant difference among the AE, CE and RCE groups ( t = 0.56, 1.81, P ＞ 0.05 ). The Th17/Treg (IL-17/IL-10) ratio was significantly decreased in the AE group ( 2.1 ± 0.7 ), CE group ( 3.6 ± 1.5 ) and RCE group ( 3.4 ± 1.9)compared with that in the control group (5.7 ± 2.6) ( F = 13.76, P ＜ 0.05 ), while no significant difference was found between the CE and RCE groups (t = 0.23, P ＞ 0.05). The serum concentrations of IL-17 were negatively correlated with TGF-β1 ( r = - 0.23, P ＜ 0.05 ) and positively correlated with IL-23 ( r = 0.70, P ＜ 0.05 ).Serum concentrations of IL-10 were positively correlated with TGF-β1 ( r = 0.46, P ＜ 0.05 ). Conclusion The overwhelming expression of Treg related cytokines disrupts the Th17/Treg balance in patients with AE or CE,which may have a potential role in immune evasion in the progress of hydatid disease.