Journal
CLINICAL ORAL INVESTIGATIONS
Volume 18, Issue 8, Pages 1903-1911Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s00784-013-1176-z
Keywords
Tregs; Oral lichen planus; Cytokine; Hydroxychloroquine; Prednisone
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Scientific Foundation of China [81070839, 81101552]
- Medical Science and Technology Development Foundation
- Nanjing Department of Health [ZKX10030]
- Jiangsu Province's Outstanding Medical Academic Leader program [LJ201110]
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province [BK2011571]
- Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education [20100091120002]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have emerged as important mediators in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. We investigated the possible involvement of Tregs in oral lichen planus (OLP) and the influence of clinical therapy (hydroxychloroquine and prednisone) on the frequencies of Tregs in OLP patients. One hundred fifty patients diagnosed with OLP were the study cohort. Levels of Tregs in blood and tissues were detected using flow cytometry and immunostaining, respectively. Cytokine production was assessed using a proteome profiler array and determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. mRNA expression of transcription factors was detected by real-time quantitative PCR. Hydroxychloroquine or prednisone was used to treat patients randomly. The frequency of Tregs was detected before treatment and 2 weeks after treatment. Compared with healthy volunteers, OLP patients had a higher proportion of Tregs in serum and tissues before treatment (P < 0.001). Serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-8, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1, and IL-10 were significantly higher in patients than those in healthy controls. mRNA expression of Treg-related genes, including TGF-beta, IL-10, signal transducer and activator of transcription 6, and GATA binding protein 3, were upregulated significantly in OLP patients. The frequency of Tregs was downregulated after hydroxychloroquine treatment. These results suggest that Tregs may contribute to the immunopathogenesis of OLP and may provide a new therapeutic target for OLP treatment. T cell-mediated immune dysfunction may have a crucial role in OLP development. However, T helper 1 (Th1)/Th2 imbalance does not appear to be sufficient to understand the pathogenesis of OLP. This is the first study to show that Tregs are involved in the immunopathogenesis of OLP.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available