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The Th17/Treg imbalance and cytokine environment in peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

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Abstract

Broken Th17/Treg balance has been reported contributing to several inflammatory autoimmune diseases. The objective of the study was to investigate whether the Th17/Treg balance was impaired in the peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The frequencies of Treg cells and Th17 cells and mRNA expression of transcription factor RORγt and FoxP3 in peripheral blood of RA patients (n = 37) and healthy controls (n = 30) were determined by flow cytometry and real-time PCR, respectively. Eleven serum cytokines were analyzed by using cytometeric bead array (CBA). The results demonstrated that active RA patients exhibited increased peripheral Th17 cells, Th1- and Th17-related cytokines and RORγt expression while decreased Treg cells and FoxP3 expression. In addition, Th17/Treg ratios were positively correlated with serum concentrations of Th1- and Th17-related cytokines. In conclusion, our results indicated that Th17/Treg balance was broken in peripheral blood, which may play an important role in the development of RA.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (30872335), Society Development Foundation of Zhenjiang (SH2008035) and Medical Science and Technology Development Foundation of Jiangsu Province Department of Health (H200950).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathogenic Biology, School of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, Jiangsu University, 212001, Zhenjiang, China

    Wenhong Wang, Shihe Shao, Huaxi Xu & Shengjun Wang

  2. Central Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, 438 Jiefang Road, 212001, Zhenjiang, China

    Zhijun Jiao

  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Jiangyin People’s Hospital, 214400, Jiangyin, China

    Mingquan Guo

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  1. Wenhong Wang
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  2. Shihe Shao
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  3. Zhijun Jiao
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  5. Huaxi Xu
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Correspondence to Zhijun Jiao.

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Wang, W., Shao, S., Jiao, Z. et al. The Th17/Treg imbalance and cytokine environment in peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatol Int 32, 887–893 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-010-1710-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-010-1710-0

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