Increased frequencies of Th17 in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a one year follow-up

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate changes of peripheral Th17 and Treg cells frequencies in the newly-diagnosed Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia [CLL] patients for 12 months

---

Methods: In this research,50 CLL patients were enrolled

---

Circulating Th1, Th17 cells and CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Plasma levels of related cytokines were detected by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay [ELISA]

---

The study was carried out from January 2012 to October 2013 at Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P.R. China

---

Results: Compared with healthy controls, Th17 cells related cytokines were significantly increased in CLL patients, while Treg cells related cytokines were significantly lowered. In the follow-up, we found that the frequency of Treg cells was irregular, while the frequency of Th17 cells was gradually decreased

---

Conclusion: Our study suggested that Th17 cells may play important role in the immune regulation of CLL, and may become a new target in CLL therapy