Significance of CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ T cells in hepatocellular carcinoma patients after liver transplantation

Abstract

Objective To discuss the significance of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cells in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after liver transplantation.Method The frequency of Treg cells in the HCC patients was analyzed by flow cytometry,and compared with that in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and normal people.A mouse HCC model was established by injection of mice hepatic cancer cell H22 to the C57BL/6 liver.Skin transplantation was performed on the normal mice (n=7,control group) and the HCC mice (n =8,experimental group),and the skin graft survival time was observed.Result The frequency of Treg cells in the peripheral blood (PB) of HCC patients after liver transplantation was (10.00 ± 1.15)％,and (5.10 ± 1.50)％ in LC group,P＜0.05.The skin graft survival time in experimental group (14.25 ± 1.94 days) was longer than in control group (8.86 ± 1.35 days,P＜0.05).Conclusion Increased Treg cells can delay or reduce the rate of allograft rejection; moreover it suggests that we can use the immunosuppressants more reasonably in the HCC patients after liver transplantation via detecting the Treg cells. Key words: Liver transplantation; Carcinoma, hepatocellular; CD4-positive T-lymphocytes; Graft rejection; Immunosuppressive agents