title: [Imbalance of Th17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood from multiple myeloma patients].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the ratio of Th17 cells and CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ regulatory T (Treg) cells in peripheral blood from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and explore its pathological effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  70 MM patients were divided into three groups: newly diagnosed group (n=30), plateau stage group (n=23) and relapsed/refractory group (n=17). The controls consisted of 20 healthy donors. The frequencies of Th17 and Treg cells were detected by flow cytometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with controls [(0.72±0.33)%] and plateau stage group [(0.74±0.29)%], frequencies of Th17 cells were higher in newly diagnosed group [(1.62±0.65)%] and relapsed/refractory group [(1.45±0.51)%], respectively (P<0.05). Compared with controls [(2.33±0.90)%] and plateau stage group [(1.69±0.70)%], frequencies of Treg cells were significantly lower in newly diagnosed group [(0.55±0.23)%] and relapsed/refractory group [(0.82±0.54)%], respectively (P<0.05). The ratios of Th17/Treg in newly diagnosed group and relapsed/refractory group were higher than those in controls (P<0.05). There were no differences of the frequencies of CD3⁺CD4⁺ T cells and Th17 cells between plateau stage group and controls. The frequencies of Treg cells were significantly lower in plateau stage group than that in controls (P<0.05), and the ratio of Th17/Treg was significantly higher in plateau stage group than that in controls (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The remarkable abnormality of T cells subsets was reduction of CD4⁺ T cells in MM. Higher frequency of Th17 and lower ratio of Treg could lead to imbalance of Th17/Treg, which may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of MM.
authors.affiliation: Department ofHematology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Jing-jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Di-jiao
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Neng-gang
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yong-mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Yong-qian
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000166:cytology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000166:cytology*