Introduction: An increasing body of evidence has shown that type 17 helper T (TH17) cell responses play an important role in the progression of cardiac remodeling stimulated by long‑term pressure overload.
Objectives: We aimed to investigate the relationship between TH17 responses and cardiac remodeling, and the prognostic value of TH17 responses in hypertensive patients.
Patients and methods: A total of 187 adults with hypertension and 70 healthy controls were enrolled in the present study. TH17 cell frequencies, matrix metallopeptidase 9, procollagen type I, and procollagen type III were studied at baseline. All adults underwent routine echocardiography to assess left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF) at baseline and after 24 months of follow‑up.
Results: The percentage of TH17 cells was increased in hypertensive patients, particularly in adults with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that the area under the curve (AUC) of TH17 cells for predicting of LVH was 0.943 (95% CI, 0.914-0.971; P <0.001) and the cutoff value was 2.3%. On logistic regression analysis, the percentage of TH17 cells was an independent predictor of LVH (odds ratio, 1.47; 95% CI, 2.23-2.28; P = 0.005). The percentage of TH17 cells significantly correlated with the levels of fibrotic parameters. According to the cutoff value of TH17 cells, patients with a lower level of TH17 cell differentiation had a better prognosis.
Conclusions: The differentiation of TH17 cells reflected the cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling response to hypertension‑induced pressure overload, and it might be a potential inflammatory marker to predict the prognosis of hypertensive patients.