Significance of CD4~+CD25~+ regulatory T cells in peripheral blood from patients with acute leukemia

Objective:To investigate the levels of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T(treg) cells (CD4+CD25+/CD4+CD25+high) in peripheral blood of acute lenkemic patients,providing the opportunity to determine whether the acute leukemic patients exhibited an expanded CD4+CD25+Treg pool.Method:The levels of CD4+CD25+/CD4+CD25+high Treg in the peripheral blood of 56 acute leukemic patients were determined by flow cytomery. IL-10 concentrations in the serum of acute leukemic patients were determined by ELISA.Result:Compared with those healthy controls,the levels of CD4+CD25+/CD4+CD25+high Treg in the peripheral blood of 56 acute leukemic patients showed a significant increase (23.85±6.85)%/(5.21±1.20)% respectively(P0.01). Compared with healthy controls,the IL-10 concentrations increased significantly in the acute leukemic patients(P0.01). There was positive relation between the level of CD4+CD25+/CD4+CD25+high and concentration of IL-10 (r=0.253/r=0.511,P0.05).Conclusion:An significant increase of CD4+CD25+/CD4+CD25+high regulatory T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with acute leukemia is concerned with the acute leukemia escape.