[Alteration of Th17 cells, immunoglobins and complements levels in peripheral blood of patients with refractory recurrent aphthous ulcer].

PURPOSE: To observe the levels of Th17 cells, immunoglobins and complements in peripheral blood of patients with refractory recurrent aphthous ulcer (refractory RAU) patients.

METHODS: Totally, 30 patients with refractory RAU and 21 healthy controls were enrolled into this study. Flow cytometry was performed to determine the frequency of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood. Immune scatter turbidimetry was adopted to measure the levels of IgA, IgG, IgM, IgE, C3 and C4 in the peripheral blood. Meanwhile, the correlations between the frequency of Th17 cells and the levels of immunoglobins or complements were analyzed. SPSS17.0 software package was used to analyze the date.

RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the percentage of Th17 cells (CD3+ CD8- IL17+ ) in all CD4+ T cells was significantly increased in the refractory RAU group (P<0.01). Similarly, the levels of IgG, IgA, IgE in the refractory RAU group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05),but there was no significant difference in the levels of IgM, C3 and C4 between the refractory RAU group and control group. There was negative correlation between the frequency of Th17 cells and the level of IgA (r=-0.477, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: The levels of Th17 cells, immunoglobins and complements in refractory RAU patients are significantly different from healthy human, which may play an important role in the pathogenesis of refractory RAU. There may be some relationship between Th17 cells and the change of humoral immunity in refractory RAU.