[Expression of follicular helper T cells in peripheral blood of patients with hepatic echinococcosis]

Objective: To detect the expression of follicuLar helper T cells (Tfh) and interleukin-21 (IL-21) in the peripheral blood of patients with hepatic echinococcosis and healthy controls, so as to explore the associations of Tfh and IL-21 expression with the progression of hepatic echinococcosis.

Methods: Fifty cases of hepatic echinococcosis and healthy controls were collected from Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital, respectively. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of Tfh cells in the peripheral blood of hepatic echinococcosis patients and healthy controls, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect serum IL-21 expression in hepatic echinococcosis patients and healthy controls. The correlation between Tfh cell expression and serum IL-21 level was examined in the patients with hepatic echinococcosis.

Results: Flow cytometry detected a higher percentage of CD4⁺CXCR5⁺ T cells (18.49% ± 5.67% vs. 16.18% ± 4.04%, P < 0.05), CD4⁺CXCR5⁺PD-1⁺ T cells (4.94% ± 1.91% vs. 2.29% ± 0.79%, P < 0.05) and CD4⁺CXCR5⁺ICOS⁺PD-1⁺ T cells (30.93% ± 24.10% vs. 21.07% ± 14.25%, P < 0.05) in hepatic echinococcosis patients than in healthy controls, and no significant difference was seen in the percentage of CD4⁺CRCR5⁺ICOS⁺ T cells between the patients and controls (0.29% ± 0.32% vs. 0.25% ± 0.31%, P > 0.05) . The serum IL-21 level was significantly higher in the patients with hepatic echinococcosis than in healthy controls ([ 293.35 ± 2 03.65) pg/mL vs. (192.72 ± 70.09) pg/mL, P < 0.05]; however, there was no correlation between the Tfh cell expression and serum IL-21 level in patients with hepatic echinococcosis (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: The expression of peripheral blood Tfh cells and serum IL-21 is elevated in patients with hepatic echinococcosis, and Tfh cells and IL-21 may contribute to the progression of hepatic echinococcosis.