title: Decreased circulating Th22 and Th17 cells in patients with aplastic anemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aplastic anemia (AA) is an immune-mediated disorder and mainly related to active destruction of hematopoietic cells by effector T lymphocytes. T helper (Th) 22 cells characterized as a novel subset of CD4+ T cells participate in the pathogenesis of autoimmune and hematological diseases. However, the role of Th22 subset in AA remains unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  31 untreated AA patients and 30 healthy controls were included in this study. The percentages of Th22, Th17 and pure Th17 cells in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry. ELISA to measure interleukin (IL)-22 and IL-17A plasma levels and qRT-PCR for the mRNA levels of Th22 and Th17 related molecules were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportions of Th22, pure Th17, Th17 cells and plasma levels of IL-22 were significantly lower in untreated AA patients than those in normal controls. A positive correlation was found between Th22 and pure Th17 cells in AA. Moreover, percentages of Th22 cells correlated positively with reticulocyte counts and percentages. In addition, STAT3/STAT5 mRNA expression ratio was elevated in AA patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Together, our results showed Th22 cells correlating with clinical characteristics of AA patients, indicating a possible role of Th22 immune response in the pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention of AA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China. Electronic address: daoxinma@sdu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Daoxin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China. Electronic address: jichunyan@sdu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chunyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aplastic anemia; Reticulocyte; T helper 17; T helper 22