我们用四色流式细胞术准确界定CD4+ CD25high Foxp3+ Treg,实时荧光定量聚合酶链反应(PCR)技术检测Treg的特异性功能基因Foxp3 mRNA的表达水平,分析不同分期膀胱癌患者的该群细胞数量、膀胱癌不同部位的分布及Foxp3的表达差异与膀胱癌临床TNM分期的关系,探讨Treg在膀胱癌患者中表达水平及临床意义。

Objective To investigate the ratios of peripheral blood CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ regulatory T cells of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients,and explore its association with disease activity and nephropathy.Methods PBMC lymphocytes in 42 patients with SLE and PBMC in 40 normal healthy donors were evaluated for the proportion of Treg cells,as a percentage of the total CD4+ cells,by flow cytometric analysis.Levels of mRNA for Foxp3 were measured with a real-time quantitative PCR.The proportion of Treg cells and its association with SLEDAI,nephropathy,serum anti-dsDNA antibody,and C3 levels were analyzed.Statistical analysis was conducted with t-test and Spearman's correlation analysis.Results Patients with active disease had statistically significantly lower levels of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ Treg than normal controls [(4±3)％ vs (7±4)％,P＜0.05],while no significant difference could be found between patients with nonactive disease and normal controls (P＞0.05).The percentage of peripheral blood CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ Treg/CD4+ in patients with active disease was significantly lower when compared to patients with non-active disease [(9±6)％ vs (10±6)％,P＜0.05],and it was related to the disease activity.SLE patients with nephropathy had significantly lower levels of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ Treg and CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ Treg/CD4+ than patients without nephropathy (P＜0.05).Foxp3 mRNA levels were lower in PBMC from active disease patients than those in non-active disease.In addition,there was a negative correlation between the populations of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ and SLEDAI (r=-0.5892,P＜0.05).There was a negative correlation between the percentage of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+/CD4+ and SLEDAI (r=-0.4962,P＜0.05),while there was a positive correlation between the percentage of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+/CD4+ and C3 (r=0.3867,P＜0.05).There was a positive correlation between the populations of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ and Foxp3 mRNA (r=0.6142,P＜0.01 ).Conclusion These suggest that the decrease of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ Treg and Foxp3 mRNA expression may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of SLE.