Change of Th17/Treg ratio in peripheral blood and its clinical significance in patients with traumatic sepsis / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate changes of Th17/Treg ratio in peripheral blood of patients with traumatic sepsis and discuss the underlying clinical significance.MethodsThrity-five multi-trauma patients enrolled in the study were divided into trauma group (n =22) and sepsis group (n =13 ).Another nine healthy volunteers were designed as the control group.Peripheral blood was collected from all the groups so as to determine the ratios of Th17 and Treg by flow cytometry,detect the mRNA expressions of RORγt and FoxP3 by real time fluorescence quantitative PCR and measure serum levels of IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,IL-17A,IL-23,transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β),interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and C-reaction protein (CRP) by ELISA.Further,the change of Th17/Treg ratio and its clinical significance were analyzed.ResultsThe proportion of Th17 in the trauma group showed no significant difference with that in the control group, whereas the ratio of Th17/Treg was lower than that in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).The proportion of Th17 and ratio of Th17/Treg in the sepsis group were higher than those in the trauma group and control group (P ＜ 0.01 ).Serum concentrations of TGF-β,IL-6 and IL-23 in the sepsis group were all significantly higher than those in the control group ( P ＜ 0.01 ).Serum levels of TGF-β had no significant difference between the sepsis group and the trauma group,while serum concentrations of IL-6 and IL-23 in the sepsis group were higher than those in the trauma group ( P ＜ 0.01 ).Serum level of IL-17A and mRNA expression of RORγt in the sepsis group were higher than those in the trauma and control groups ( both P ＜ 0.01 ).ConclusionTh17/Treg imbalance is closely correlated with the development of sepsis in patients with severe trauma.