Effect of Th17 and Treg Axis Disorder on Outcomes of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Connective Tissue Diseases
Figure 1
Frequencies and absolute counts of circulating Treg and Th17 cells as well as the ratio of Th17/Treg in CTD and CTD-aPAH patients and healthy controls. PBMCs from studied subjects were stained with labeled anti-human antibodies as described in Section 2. Flow cytometry dot-plots showed that the gating strategies were used in identification of Treg (gated on CD4+ cells for detection of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ and CD4+ CD25+ CD127− cells) and Th17 cells (gated on CD4+ cells for detection of CD4+ IL-17+ cells). (a) The dot-plots showed the gating strategies of circulating CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ Treg, CD4+ CD25+ CD127− Treg and Th17 cells in control, CTD and CTD-aPAH groups. (b) Statistical analysis revealed the frequencies of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ Treg and CD4+ CD25+ CD127− Treg populations among the CD4+ T cells in healthy controls () and in patients with CTD () or CTD-aPAH (). (c) Frequencies (left) and absolute counts (right) of circulating Treg cells (CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+) in control, CTD and CTD-aPAH groups. (d) Frequencies (left) and absolute counts (right) of circulating Th17 cells in control, CTD and CTD-aPAH groups. (e) The ratios of Th17/Treg in control, CTD and CTD-aPAH groups. (f) Th17 and Treg cells frequencies and the ratios of Th17/Treg in subgroups of mild to moderate CTD-aPAH and severe CTD-aPAH. Compared with control group, ; Compared with CTD group, .
