ABSTRACT
Objective:To study the change of regulatory T cells in PBMC and the effects of CpG ODN in patients with lung cancer.Methods: Lymphocytes isolated from blood of 30 patients with lung canaer and 30 healthy volunteers were analyzed for the proportion of CD4 ~+CD25~+ T cells by flow cytometry.The mRNA expression of Foxp3 was detected by real-time PCR and the levels of TGF-β and IFN-γ were tested by ELLSA.The PBMC of 30 patients with lung cancer were randomly divided into treated group(CpG ODN 2006)and placebo group(CpG ODN 1612).The proportion of CD4 ~+ CD25~+ T cells,the mRNA expression of Foxp3 and the levels of TGF-β and IFN-γ were compared before and after treatment.Results:Tbe proportion of CD4~+ CD25~+ T cells,the mRNA expression of Foxp3 and the levels of TGF-β in patients with lung cancer were higher than those in healthy volunteers,but there was no significant difference in such parameters among subgroups of pathologic classification and clinical stage patients.The proportion of CD4 ~+ CD25~+ T cells, the mRNA expression of Foxp3 and the levels of TGF-β were dropped in CpG ODN 2006 group after treatment.There was no significant difference in these parameters before and after treatment in CpG ODN 1612 group.Conclusion: The proportion of CD4~+ CD25 ~+ T cells, the mRNA expression of Foxp3 and the levels of TGF-β of PBMC in lung cancer patients are higher than those in healthy volunteers.Treating by CpG ODN 2006 could down-regulate the proportion of CD4~+ CD25~+ Foxp3~+ regulatory T cells and the levels of TGF-β of PBMC from the patients with lung cancer.
