Expression and significance of Th1 cells, Th2 cells and Th17 cells and their related cytokines in patients with brucellosis / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the immune response characteristics of helper T cells Th1, Th2, Th17 and their related cytokines in acute, chronic and recovery phases after Brucella infection. Methods:Using prospective study, a total of 130 patients with brucellosis in the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Shihezi University from January 2017 to December 2018 were selected as the research subjects, including acute phase group (49 cases), chronic phase group (44 cases), recovery phase group (37 cases), and 30 cases of healthy physical examination during the same period were included in the control group. The peripheral blood samples of all subjects were collected, and flow cytometry was used to detect Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells in the peripheral blood; the cytometry bead array (CBA) was used to detect the serum cytokines interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-17A expression levels.Results:In the control, acute phase, chronic phase and recovery phase groups, the differences of the expression ratios of Th1 [(1.03 ± 0.85)%, (5.46 ± 3.54)%, (4.48 ± 2.26)%, (2.29 ± 2.25)%], Th2 [(4.72 ± 2.36)%, (7.00 ± 3.14)%, (13.99 ± 9.14)%, (5.89 ± 4.69)%], and Th17 cells [(2.09 ± 0.48)%, (3.04 ± 2.17)%, (3.61 ± 2.67)%, (2.74 ± 2.58)%] were statistically significant ( F = 20.95, 21.15, 2.90, P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the expressions ratio of Th1, Th2, Th17 cells in acute and chronic phase groups and Th1 cells in recovery phase group were significantly higher ( P < 0.05); compared with the recovery phase group, the expressions ratio of Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells in acute and chronic phase groups were significantly higher, but the expression ratio of Th2 cells in acute phase group was lower than that in chronic phase group ( P < 0.05). The expression levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-17A in serum of control group, acute phase, chronic phase and recovery phase groups were significantly different ( F = 7.79, 15.85, 7.55, P < 0.05); compared with the control group, the expression levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-17A in acute and chronic phase groups and IFN-γ, IL-4 in recovery phase group were significantly higher ( P < 0.05); compared with the recovery phase group, the expression levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-17A in acute phase group and IFN-γ, IL-17A in chronic phase group were significantly higher ( P < 0.05). The expression ratio of Th1 cells in recovery phase patients who finished treatment for less than 12 months was significantly higher than that of recovery phase patients who finished treatment for ≥12 months ( t = 2.26, P < 0.05). Conclusions:After patients are infected with Brucella, Th1 cell immunity is dominant in acute phase, Th2 cell immunity is dominant in chronic phase, and there is no significant difference in the response of Th17 cell immunity between acute and chronic phases. The immune function of patients in the recovery phase may still be abnormal when the treatment time is less than 12 months. Some clinically cured patients in the recovery phase still have a relatively high proportion of Th1 cells, suggesting that the patient's immune function has not fully recovered.