卵巢癌患者外周血CD4^+调节T细胞与TGF-β1水平的相关性研究

Correlation between CD4^+ regulatory T cells and TGF-β1 in peripheral blood of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

目的:探讨卵巢癌患者外周血中CD4^+CD25^+及CD4^+CD25^+Foxp3^+调节性T细胞的水平及其与转化生长因子β1(transforming growth factor-β1,TGF-β1)水平的相关性。方法:采用流式细胞术对24例上皮性卵巢癌患者外周血中CD4^+CD25^+及CD4^+CD25^+Foxp3^+调节性T细胞水平进行检测,收集每例患者对应的血浆,ELISA法检测卵巢癌患者血浆中TGF-β1浓度,并选20例卵巢良性疾病及20例健康体检者做对比研究。结果:与卵巢良性疾病及健康对照组相比,卵巢癌患者CD4^+CD25^+、CD4^+CD25^+Foxp3^+调节性T细胞及TGF-β1的表达水平明显增高(均P<0.01);Ⅲ~Ⅳ期卵巢癌患者CD4^+CD25^+、CD4^+CD25^+Foxp3^+调节性T细胞及TGF-β1的表达水平明显高于Ⅰ~Ⅱ期患者(P<0.05);Pearson相关性分析结果显示,卵巢癌患者外周血CD4^+CD25^+及CD4^+CD25^+Foxp3^+调节性T细胞水平与血浆TGF-β1水平均呈正相关(r=0.656,P<0.05;r=0.574,P<0.05)。结论:卵巢癌患者外周血存在高水平CD4^+调节T细胞,且其与血浆TGF-β1水平呈正相关。检测外周血CD4^+调节T细胞与TGF-β1水平对于判断卵巢癌不同病期有重要意义。TGF-β1水平增高可能参与调节CD4^+调节T细胞对卵巢癌机体的免疫负调节机制。

Objective： To investigate the correlation between CD4＋CD25＋ and CD4＋CD25＋Foxp3＋ regulatory T cells （Treg） and transforming growth factor-β1 （TGF-β） in peripheral blood of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods： The percentages of CD4＋ CD25＋ and CD4＋CD25＋Foxp3＋ Treg in peripheral blood from 24 patients with ovarian cancer were detected by flow cytometry. Plasma level of TGF-β1 in each patient was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）, and compared with that in 20 patients with benign ovarian tumor and 20 healthy volunteers. Results： The percentages of CD4＋CD25＋, CD4＋CD25＋Foxp3＋ Treg cells and TGF-β1 in ovarian cancer patients were significantly higher than those in 20 patients with benign ovarian tumor and 20 healthy volunteers （both P〈0.01）. Levels of CD4＋CD25＋, CD4＋CD25＋Foxp3＋ Treg cells and TGF-β1 in ovarian cancer patients at stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ were significantly higher than those of patients at stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ （P〈0.05）. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the percentages of CD4＋CD25＋ and CD4＋CD25＋Foxp3＋ Treg cells were positively correlated with the levels of TGF-β1. Conclusion： The percentages of CD4＋ Treg cells in peripheral blood from ovarian cancer were higher and positively correlated with TGF-β1 levels. Detection of CD4＋ Treg cells and TGF-β1 has the clinical value on evaluation of development and prognosis of different stages of ovarian cancer. The increased levels of TGF-β1 may be involved in the immune negative adjustment mechanism of CD4＋ Treg cells.