Expressions of interleukin 17 (IL-17) and RORγt in peripheral blood of patients with vitiligo

Abstract

Objective To investigate the roles of Thl7 cells in the immunological pathogenesis of vitiligo. Methods Forty patients with progressive or stable vitiligo and 20 normal human controls were included in this study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to measure the level of serum IL-17, and SYBR Green I real-time RT-PCR to detect the mRNA expression of RORγt in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from these patients. The correlation of the above parameters with disease activity was assessed. Results The levels of serum IL-17 and ROR-yt mRNA in PBMCs were significantly higher in patients with progressive and stable vitiligo than in normal human controls (all P< 0.01). Conclusion Thl7 cells may be closely associated with the pathogenesis of vitiligo.