Expression and the significance of peripheral blood CD4~+CD25~+ regulatory T cells and CD4~+,CD8~+ T cells in patients with stage I coal workers' pneumoconiosis

Objective To explore the change of levels and the clinical significance of peripheral blood CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells(CD4+CD25+Treg) and CD4+,CD8+T cells in the patients with stageⅠcoal workers' pneumoconiosis(CWP).Methods The levels of peripheral blood CD4+CD25+Treg,CD4+,CD8+T cells were determined in 103 patients with stageⅠCWP(CWP group),45 healthy miners(dust contacted control group) and 48 healthy controls by a flow cytometer.Results The levels of CD4+CD25+Treg,CD4+T cells,CD4+CD25+/CD4+ and CD4+CD25+/CD8+ were significantly higher in CWP than those in healthy control group and dust contacted control group(P0.01),and CD8+T cells had no obvious difference among 3 groups(P0.05).Compared with those of the healthy control group,the levels of CD8+T cells were significantly lower in dust contacted control(P0.01).The levels of CD4+CD25+Treg and CD4+ CD25+/CD4+ in smoking CWP patients were significantly higher than those in non-smoking CWP patients(all P0.01).In CWP,the levels of CD4+CD25+Treg were positively correlated with CD4+T cells(r=0.627,P0.01) and negatively correlated with CD8+T cells(r=-0.362,P0.01),the levels of CD4+T cells were negatively correlated with CD8+T cells(r=-0.436,P0.01).Conclusion The levels of peripheral blood CD4+CD25+Treg were increased in patients with stageⅠCWP and might influence the distribution of CD4+ and CD8+T cells.The unbalance leads to cellular immune functional disorder.Smoking may augment unbalanced distribution of T cell subset.