Correlation between microRNA-21 and expression of Th17 and Treg cells in microenvironment of rats with hepatocellular carcinoma

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To study the correlation between miR-21 and Treg/Th17 ratio in the microenvironment of rats with hepatocellular carcinoma.@*METHODS@#Diethylnitrosamine was used to build the hepatocellular carcinoma model of rats; the content of Treg cells and Th17 cells and the expression of miR-21 in the peripheral blood of rats with hepatocellular carcinoma were detected. The statistical analysis was performed on the correlation between miR-21 expression and Treg/Th17 ratio.@*RESULTS@#Hepatocellular carcinoma model of rats was successfully constructed. The proportion of Th17 cells among all CD4(+)T cells in the peripheral blood of rats with hepatocellular carcinoma was 5.319%, which was higher than the control group; while the proportion of Treg cells was 9.472%, which was higher than the control group. Treg/Th17 ratio in the model group was 1.781, compared with 1.478 in the control group. The expression of miR-21 was increased in the peripheral blood of rats with hepatocellular carcinoma and it showed a positive correlation with the ratio of Treg/Th17.@*CONCLUSIONS@#There is a positive correlation between the expression level of miR-21 and the ratio of Treg/Th17.