退变腰椎间盘中IL-17表达的变化及其意义

The Changes of IL-17 Expression in Degenerated Human Lumbar Intervertebral Disc and its Significance

目的:研究退变的椎间盘组织中IL-17表达的变化及其与椎间盘退变严重程度之间的关系。方法:收集退变椎间盘标本23例,正常椎间盘标本12例,通过免疫组织化学染色、免疫荧光染色、实时-定量PCR(RT-PCR)和酶联免疫吸附实验(ELISA)从细胞、蛋白和基因水平检测椎间盘组织中IL-17和孤独受体(retinoid-related orphan receptor,RORγt)的表达。结果:免疫组化染色显示退变椎间盘组织中IL-17阳性细胞比例较对照组明显增高,有统计学差异(P<0.05);免疫荧光染色显示退变椎间盘组织中Th17细胞含量明显增多(P<0.05);退变的椎间盘组织中IL-17和RORγt m RNA的相对表达量较对照组增加,有统计学差异(P<0.001),且两者之间呈显著正相关(r=0.6919,P<0.001);退变的椎间盘组织中IL-17的含量较对照组明显增加(P<0.01),且与椎间盘退变的严重程度呈正显著相关(r=0.4714,P<0.01)。结论:IL-17含量增加参与了腰椎间盘退变的病理过程,并且可能对椎间盘退变起促进作用。

Objective： To investigate the expression of IL-17 in degenerated human lumbar intervertebral disc tissues, and explore the relationship between IL-17 expression and severity of intervertebral disc degeneration. Methods： The level of IL-17 protein and Th17 cells were respectively determined by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence in 35 surgical lumbar intervertebral disc tissues（23 samples from patients with lumbar disc degeneration and 12 non-degenerated control tissues from patients with lumbar acute fractures）. IL-17 and retinoid-related orphan receptor（RORγt） m RNA levels were respectively measured by real-time PCR（RT-PCR）and ELISA. Results： The percentage of IL-17（＋） cells was significantly higher than that of the control group（P〈0.05）. Immunofluorescent staining showed that the percentage of Th17（＋） cells in degenerated human lumbar intervertebral disc tissues was evidently increased（p〈0.05）. The mean IL-17 and RORγt m RNA levels in degenerated disc tissues group were significantly higher than those in the non-degenerated controls（P〈0.001）. ELISA results showed IL-17 expression was significantly enhanced in degenerate human lumbar intervertebral disc tissues, compared with the non-degenerated control tissues（P〈0.01）. The expression level of IL-17 m RNA was evidently higher than that of the control group（P〈0.01）, and was positively correlated with the severity of intervertebral disc degeneration（r=0.4714, P〈0.01）. Conclusion： The increase of IL-17 expression was involved in the pathological process of lumbar disc degeneration,which may contribute to the incidence of lumbar disc degeneration.