Changes of Th17 Cells in Peripheral Blood of Asthmatic Children and Interventive Effect of Huai Qi Huang Particles

Objective To observe the levels of Th cell subsets in the asthmatic children and the role of early intervention of Huai Qi Huang particles on asthma in infants and young children.Methods Flowcytometry was used to detect the cells percentages of the Th1,Th2 and Th17 in the peripheral blood of asthma children (asthma group,n= 60) and healthy children (healthy control group,n=30).Asthma childreh were randomly divided into 2 groups:group A and group B.Group A was given corticosteroids and leukotriene antagonist oral suction;while in group B, Huai Qi Huang particles was added in combination with the conventional therapy, treatment lasted for 3 months in each group, and the therapeutic efficacy was observed.Results 1.Compared with the healthy control group,the number of CD4+ cells (Th1) expressing interferon-γ was decreased in the peripheral blood in the asthma group.The numbers of CD4+ cells (Th2,Th17) expressing IL-4 and IL-17 were increased.And the differences were statistically significant(P=0.006,0.028,0.041).2.After treatment for 3 months,in the asthma group, the number of Th1 rebounded and the number of Th2 and Th17 both decreased.In group A,the changes in the number of Th1 and Th2 were statistically significant before and after treatment (P=0.002,0.017),but the change of Th17 was not statistically significant(P=0.051).In group B,the changes in the numbers of Th1,Th2 and Th17 were all statistically significant (P=0.001,0.009,0.032).3.Before and after treatment,the changes of Th1,Th2,Th17 had no statistically significant between the group A and group B.4.The treatment efficiency of group B was significantly higher than that in group A (93.33% vs 73.33%;χ2=4.320,P=0.038).Conclusions Th17 might be related to the pathogenesis of asthma,and its mechanism in the pathogenesis of asthma remains to be further studied.The role of early intervention on asthma of long-term using Huai Qi Huang particles was achieved through reversing the immune imbalance of Th1 and Th2 in blood.And it also may be linked to excessive regulation of Th17 cells,which affects IL-17 neutrophil-mediated inflammation and improves the cure rate of asthma.