title: Levels of hepatic Th17 cells and regulatory T cells upregulated by hepatic stellate cells in advanced HBV-related liver fibrosis.
abstract: Liver fibrosis which mainly occurs upon chronic hepatitis virus infection potentially leads to portal hypertension, hepatic failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the immune status of Th17 and Treg cells in liver fibrosis is controversial and the exact mechanisms remain largely elusive.
  
  
  
  Liver tissues and peripheral blood were obtained simultaneously from 32 hepatitis B virus infected patients undergoing surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma at the medical center of Sun Yat-sen University. Liver tissues at least 3 cm away from the tumor site were used for the analyses. Levels of Th17 cells and regulatory T cells were detected by flow cytometry analysis and immunohistochemistry. In vitro experiment, we adopted magnetic cell sorting to investigate how hepatic stellate cells regulate the levels of Th17 cells and regulatory T cells.
  
  
  
  We found that hepatic Th17 cells and regulatory T cells were increased in patients with advanced stage HBV-related liver fibrosis. Hepatic stellate cells upregulated the levels of Th17 cells and regulatory T cells via PGE2/EP2 and EP4 pathway.
  
  
  
  We found that the increased levels of Th17 cells and regulatory T cells were upregulated by hepatic stellate cells. These results may provide insight into the role of hepatic stellate cells and Th17 cells and regulatory T cells in the persistence of fibrosis and into the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma following cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplant Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong Province, China.|Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Liver Disease, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yuehua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong Province, China.|Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Liver Disease, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.|Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No 210 Jixi Road, Hefei, 230022, Anhui Province, China. aaylixu@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong Province, China. zhilianggao@21cn.com.|Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Liver Disease, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. zhilianggao@21cn.com.|Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China. zhilianggao@21cn.com.
authors.forename: Zhiliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D015232:Dinoprostone / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D055166:Hepatic Stellate Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058307:Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP2 Subtype / Q000378:metabolism; D058309:Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP4 Subtype / Q000378:metabolism; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D058307:Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP2 Subtype; D058309:Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP4 Subtype; D015232:Dinoprostone
keywords: Hepatic stellate cells; Liver fibrosis, HCC; Regulatory T cells; Th17 cells