Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2013, 14(11), 21463-21473; doi:10.3390/ijms141121463
Imbalance between Th17 and Regulatory T-Cells in Sarcoidosis
1
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
2
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu 100730, China
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 27 May 2013 / Revised: 18 October 2013 / Accepted: 23 October 2013 / Published: 30 October 2013
(This article belongs to the Section Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics)
Abstract
Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease, which is thought to result from an aberrant immune response. CD4+ T lymphocytes play an important role in the development of granulomas. Previously, the immunopathogenesis of sarcoidosis was focused on Th1/Th2 disturbances. The aim of this study was to evaluate the balance between newer CD4+ T lymphocytes, i.e., Treg and Th17 cells. In our studies, a decrease in Treg cells and an increase in Th17 cells were observed in the peripheral blood and BALF of sarcoidosis patients. A significant increase in the Th17/Treg cell ratio was observed in sarcoidosis patients. After treatment with prednisone, the expression of Foxp3 mRNA was elevated in the peripheral blood, and expression of (ROR)γt mRNA showed a downward trend. These findings suggest that sarcoidosis is associated with an imbalance between Th17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood and BALF. Therefore, targeting the cytokines that affect the Th17/Treg ratio could provide a new promising therapy for pulmonary sarcoidosis.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Huang, H.; Lu, Z.; Jiang, C.; Liu, J.; Wang, Y.; Xu, Z. Imbalance between Th17 and Regulatory T-Cells in Sarcoidosis. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2013, 14, 21463-21473.
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