CHANGES OF T REGULATORY CELLS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE AND THEIR CLINICAL VALUE

Background. Chronic obstructive pul­monary disease (COPD) is character­ized by progressive airway obstruction and airway inflammation. What cells and how they are causing this ongoing chronic inflammation in the airways is still unknown. Researchers suggest that T regulatory cells may play a role in COPD; that is why more and more attention is given for T regulatory cells studtes. Some common markers, such as FoxP3+ and CD25^bright, are used for iden tifi ca tion, and a new marker CD127^dim (a part of IL-7 receptor) has been added recently.

Material and methods. We had used CD127^dim and CD25^bright markers to study T regulatory cells in peripheral blood of patients with different COPD stages. Groups of subjects studied: healthy people, patients with mild or moderate COPD, and subjects with se­vere or very severe COPD.

Results. The number of CD4+CD25+CD127^dim T cells was found to be nearly the same in all three groups, with a tendency towards de­crease of T regulatory cell number with the increase in COPD severity. CD3⁺CD4⁺CD25^bright T cell number was found to be decreased in patients with severe/very severe COPD (2.5±1.3%), but not differed between healthy (3.2±1.2%) and mild/moderate COPD (3.4±1.3%) groups (p=0.033 be­tween healthy and severe/very severe COPD, and p=0.045 between mild/mod­erate and severe/very severe COPD groups).

Conclusion. We can assume that T regulatory cells are playing a role in inflammation, and COPD have signs of autoimmune disease, but further stud­ies with much larger subject group are needed to confirm this theory.

Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, T regulatory cells,     CD4 + CD25+CD127^dim, CD4⁺CD25^bright.