人类免疫缺陷病毒1型同性恋感染者与健康人群Th17/Treg平衡状况的比较研究

The comparative study of T helper cell type 17/regulatory T cell balance in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected homosexual patients and healthy donors

通过探讨人类免疫缺陷病毒1型(HIV-1)同性恋感染者外周血中辅助性T细胞17(Th17)与CD4+CD25hiFoxp3+调节性T细胞(Treg)比例及Th17/Treg平衡状态与疾病进展的关系,初步阐明Th17/Treg失衡在HIV发病机制中的作用和意义。选取54例未经抗病毒治疗的HIV感染者,另有32名健康志愿者作为正常对照。分离外周血单核细胞后,利用流式细胞技术检测Th17和Treg水平。结果表明,在HIV感染者外周血中Th17比例明显低于正常对照组(0.68±0.35vs1.42±0.86,P<0.001),Treg比例明显高于正常对照(6.15±2.12vs4.50±0.76,P<0.001),导致HIV感染者中Th17/Treg比例较正常对照显著降低(0.12±0.07vs0.31±0.17,P<0.001)。研究还发现,Th17/CD4比例与CD4+T细胞计数正相关(r=0.371,P<0.05),与病毒载量不相关;Treg/CD4比例与CD4+T细胞计数负相关,与病毒载量正相关(r=-0.402,P<0.05;r=0.447,P<0.001)。此外,Th17/Treg比例与CD4+T细胞计数正相关,与病毒载量负相关(r=0.525,P<0.001;r=-0.318,P<0.05)。结果提示,HIV感染中存在Th17/Treg失衡现象,与疾病进程密切相关,可能在HIV进展中具有重要作用。

The aim of this study is to characterize the changes in interleukin 17（IL-17）-secreting T helper cell type 17（Th17） cell frequencies and CD4＋CD25hiFoxp3＋ regulatory T cell（Treg） in a cohort of chronic human immunodeficiency virus type 1（HIV-1）-infected homosexual patients in China,and to clarify the role of a Th17/Treg imbalance in HIV pathogenesis.A total of 54 untreated chronic HIV-infected individuals and 32 healthy donors were recruited in this study.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from EDTA-anticoagulated fresh whole blood and stained to characterize Th17/CD4 and Treg/CD4.Our results indicated that the depletion of Th17 cells（0.68±0.35 vs 1.42±0.86,P0.001） was accompanied by an increase in Treg cells（6.15±2.12 vs 4.50±0.76,P0.001）,resulting in a loss of Th17/Treg balance in HIV infection（0.12±0.07 vs 0.31±0.17,P0.001）.Additionally,Th17/CD4 was positively correlated to CD4＋ T cell counts（r=0.371,P0.05）,and Treg/CD4 was inversely correlated to CD4＋ T cell counts and positively correlated to plasma viral load（r=-0.402,P0.05;r=0.447,P0.001）.A positive correlation was observed between Th17/Treg and CD4＋ T cell counts,and Th17/Treg was negatively correlated to viral load（r=0.525,P0.001;r=-0.318,P0.05）.These results indicate that a loss of immune balance during HIV-1 disease progression may have a critical role in HIV-1 infection and further shed new light into understanding the pathogenesis of HIV-1.