title: [Significance of Th17/Treg imbalance in children with primary immune thrombocytopenia].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the significance of Th17/Treg imbalance in the development and treatment of primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two children diagnosed with ITP between May and August, 2015 and 22 healthy children were enrolled. Flow cytometry was used to determine the Th17/Treg ratio in peripheral blood of healthy children and children with ITP before and after treatment with immunoglobulin.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the patients with ITP before treatment, the healthy children and the patients treated with immunoglobulin had a significantly lower percentage of Th17 cells in CD4+ T cells, a significantly lower Th17/Treg ratio, and a significantly higher percentage of Treg cells in CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood (P<0.05). In the 32 ITP children treated with immunoglobulin, 20 had complete response, 4 had response, and 8 had no response. The patients with complete response had a significantly lower percentage of Th17 cells in CD4+ T cells and a significantly lower Th17/Treg ratio in peripheral blood than the patients without response (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Th17/Treg imbalance can be found in children with ITP. Immunoglobulin can improve the cellular immune function by regulation of the Th17/Treg ratio. The Th17/Treg ratio may serve as an indicator for assessing the therapeutic effects of ITP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China. Yingchaowang152@163.com.
authors.forename: Ying-Chao
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Man-Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Gui-Ying
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jun-Bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lan-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016553:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000276:immunology*