Increased frequency of Th17 cell in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the alteration of Th17 cells and related molecules in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT).Methods Th17 cells were determined by flow cytometry.Real-time PCR method was applied to detect the expression of the orphan nuclear receptor RORγt and interleukin(IL) -17.Serum IL-6 and IL-23 were detected by ELISA method.Results ( 1 ) Compared with healthy controls,the frequency of Th17 cells [ (0.75± 0.79) ％ vs ( 0.28 ± 0.23 )％ ] and expression of RORγt ( 0.30 ± 0.38 vs 0.04 ± 0.02,both P ＜ 0.05 ) were significantly increased in HT patients.( 2 ) The levels of IL-6 and IL23 in HT patients were higher than those in healthy controls ( 3.66 ± 4.70 vs 0.47 ± 1.11,154.7 ± 75.81 vs 80.65 ± 61.41,both P＜0.05 ).( 3 ) A positive correlation between Th17 cells and serum TgAb was revealed in HT patients ( r =0.848 4,P =0.007 7 ).(4) The results of PCR showed that IL-17 and RORγt expressed in thyroid tissues of patients HT.Conclusion An increased frequency of Thl7 cells was found in HT patients,implying that this cell subset may play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease.