原发性胆汁性肝硬化外周血及肝组织中Th17/IL-17轴的初步研究

Preliminary Study of Th17/IL-17 Axis in the Peripheral Blood and Liver Tissue of Patients with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

目的探讨PBC患者外周血和肝组织中Th17/CD4+T细胞及其表达的特异细胞因子IL-17与肝脏损伤的关系.方法收集26例PBC患者(PBC组),20例HBV患者(HBV组)和20例健康人群(HC组)的外周血和肝组织,采用流式细胞术(flow cytometry,FCM)测定Th17/CD4+T细胞的比值,酶联免疫吸附法(enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,ELISA)测定血清IL-17水平,比较3组间的表达情况,并分析血清IL-17与ALP、GGT的相关性.同时对比Th17/CD4+T、IL-17在PBC不同病理学分期表达的水平.结果 PBC患者外周血、肝组织中Th17/CD4+T和血清IL-17明显高于HBV患者和健康对照组(P<0.05),血清IL-17表达水平与ALP、GGT均呈正相关(P<0.05),PBCⅢ～Ⅳ期外周血、肝组织中Th17/CD4+T细胞水平高于PBCⅠ～Ⅱ期(P<0.05).结论 Th17/CD4+T细胞及其分泌的特异细胞因子IL-17可能在PBC免疫发病和肝脏的炎症纤维化中起着关键作用.

Objective To investigate the relationship between hepatic impairment and Th17/CD4^＋ T cells and IL-17 in the peripheral blood and hepatic tissues of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis（PBC）.Methods Peripheral blood and liver specimens of 26 PBC patients,20 HBV infected patients and 20 healthy subjects were collected. The ratio of Th17cells/CD4^＋T cells was measured by flow cytometry（FCM）. Serum levels of IL-17 were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） and compared between different groups. Correlations of IL-17 with ALP and GGT were also analyzed. The levels of Th17/CD4^＋T and IL-17 in different pathological stages were compared. Results Th17/CD4^＋T cells in peripheral blood and liver tissue and serum IL-17 of patients with PBC were significantly higher than those of patients infected by HBV or healthy control group（P 0.05）. There were positive correlations of serum IL-17 with ALP and GGT（P 0.05）. The level of Th17/CD4^＋T cells in the peripheral blood and hepatic tissue of patients with stage III-IV PBC were significantly higher than that of patients with stage I-II PBC. Conclusion Th17/CD4^＋T cells and specific cytokine IL-17 secreted by Th17/CD4^＋T cells may play a critical role in the immuno-pathogenesis and hepatic fibrosis of patients with PBC.