Expression of CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ regulatory T cells in peripheral blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To determine the expression of CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ regulatory T cells(Treg cells) in peripheral blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and investigate the clinical significance of Treg cells determination in clinical practice. Methods Flow cytometry was employed to measure the levels of CD4+ CD25+ T cells and CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ T cells in peripheral blood of 18 HCC patients, 26 hospitalized patients without HCC (clinical control) as well as 24 healthy persons (healthy control). Results The percentage of CD4+ CD25+ T cells in total CD4+T cells isolated from the HCC patients(4.25% ± 3.98 % ) was elevated significantly compared to that in the clinical control group (1.34% ± 1.14%) or healthy control group (1.29% ±0.95%) (both P＜0.01). There was no difference in the percentage between the clinical control group and the healthy control group (P＞0.05). Meanwhile, the ratio between CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ T cells and CD4+ T cells in HCC patients (2.94%0.91%) also increased significantly compared to that in the clinical control group (0.76% ± 0.34%) or healthy control group (0.81% ± 0.29%) ( both P＜0. 001), which showed a more obvious increasing tendency than the ratio of CD4+ CD25+ T cells and CD4+ T cells. No difference in percentage of CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ T cells in CD4+ T cells was found between the clinical control group and the healthy control group (P＞0.05). Conclusion As the more accurate regulatory T cells, CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ T cells are able to detect the increase of population in HCC patients. Therefore, it is important to determine the levels of CD4+ CD25+FOXP3+ T cells in HCC patients for prevention and treatment of malignancy. Key words: Carcinoma hepatocellular; Immunotherapy; Lymphocyte; Regulation T cell