The clinical significance of the changes of Th17 cells and cytokines IL-17 and IL-6 in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Abstract

Objective To investigate the change of the percentage of Th17 cells and cytokine among hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and para-carcinoma tissue and the liver tissue of hepatic hemangioma, and to explore its clinical significance. Methods To choose 26 of hepatocellular carcinoma patients between November 2014 and December 2016 and also include 11 cases of hepatic hemangioma as control group. The percentage of Th17cells in HCC tissue and para-carcinoma tissue and the liver tissue of hepatic hemangioma was evaluated by flow cytometric; The levels of IL-6 and IL-17 in HCC tissues, para-carcinoma tissue and the liver tissue of hepatic hemangioma were detected by RT-PCR. Results The ratio of Th17 cells to CD4 cells in peripheral blood of HCC was significantly higher than that in control group (4.07%±0.68% vs. 1.39%±0.41%), P<0.05. The ratio of Th17 cells to CD4 cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma was significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues and liver tissues of hepatic hemangioma (4.76%±0.75% vs. 2.30%±0.26% vs. 0.77%±0.31%, P<0.05). Multivariate linear stepwise regression analysis of the changes of Th17 cells in patients with HCC and their correlation with clinical parameters showed that Th17 lymphocytes in peripheral blood of patients with HCC were closely related to TNM staging(YTh17=2.647+ 0.687TNM. It’s indicated that the level of IL-6 and IL-17 in liver cancer tissues was significantly higher than that of the liver hemangioma in the control group through ELISA (P<0.05). The proportion of peripheral blood Th17 cells to CD4 cells is different in different TNM stages(stage I<stage II<stage III~IV, the difference was statistically significant. RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of IL-17, IL-6mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues and hepatic hemangioma liver tissue (all P<0.05). Conclusion The increased proportion of Th17 cells and the increased levels of cytokines IL-6 and IL-17 may be closely correlated with occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma. It can be an important target of anti-tumor therapy. Key words: Liver neoplasms; Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Th17 cells; Interleukin-6; Interleukin-17