The Th17/Treg imbalance in HAM/TSP patients

Abstract

Objective To investigate the imbalance of T helper 17 (Th17) / CD4 + CD25 + regulatory cell (Treg) in HAM/TSP patients.Methods Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to measure the levels of interleukin (IL-17) and IL-10 in CSF,and flow cytometry to determine the percentage of Th17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood of patients with HAM/TSP.Results There was a significant increase in the level of IL-17 [(4.58 ± 0.70)pg/ml vs (0.76 ± 0.17)pg/ml,P ＜ 0.01] in CSF and the percentage of Th17 cells [(2.00 ± 0.64) ％ vs (0.41 ± 0.24) ％,P ＜ 0.01],but a decrease in the level of IL-10 in CSF and the percentage of Treg cells in peripheral blood of patients with HAM/TSP compared with the control group.The ratio of Th17/Treg cell (0.55 ±0.10 vs 0.06 ±0.03) in the peripheral blood of patients with HAM/TSP increased significantly compared with control group (t =12.11,P ＜0.01).Conclusions The imbalance between Thl7 and Treg cells may play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Key words: T-lymphocytes, regulatory; T-lymphocytes, helper-inducer; Paraparesis, tropical spastic/cerebrospinal fluid