Clinical study on the alteration of Th17 cells in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

Objective To investigate the role of Th17 cells in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) pathogenesis. Methods 33 CML patients [15 newly diagnosed (ND)-and 18 chronic-phase (CP)-CML patients] and 15 healthy controls were enrolled. The percentage of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood (PB) of CML and controls were evaluated by flow cytometry. RORC mRNA expressions were examined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The levels of IL-17 in PB of CML and controls were measured by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA). The relationships between Th17 cells and clinical characteristics in CML were analyzed. Results The percentage of Th17 cells in PB of ND-CML patients [(0.71±0.41) %] was significantly lower than that of CP-CML patients [(4.08±0.74) %, P < 0.05] and healthy controls [(3.18±1.32) %, P < 0.05]. The mRNA level of RORC in PB of ND-CML patients (0.043 3± 0.040 5) was significantly decreased compared with that in CP-CML patients (0.086 1±0.052 3, P < 0.05) and healthy controls (0.091 0±0.058 4, P< 0.05). The levels of IL-17 in PB of ND-CML patients [(1.43±0.22) pg/ml] and CP-CML patients [(1.36±0.19) pg/ml] were slightly higher than that of healthy controls [(1.23±0.14) pg/ml, P< 0.05]. The percentage of Th17 cells had significantly negative correlations with white blood cell counts in PB or bcr-abl (IS). Conclusion Th17 cells may play an important role in CML pathogenesis, which has potential implication for immunotherapy of this malignancy. Key words: Leukemia, myelogenous, chronic; Th17 cells; Interleukin-17