Tc1/Tc2 imbalance in the peripheral blood of patients with recurrent genital herpes.

In order to investigate the IFN-gamma and IL-4 expression of CD8+ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood from patients with recurrent genital herpes (RGH) at different clinical periods and their relationship with the pathogenesis of RGH, flow cytometry was used to detect the intracellular cytokines (IFN-gamma and IL-4) of CD8+ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of 30 patients with RGH at acute period, 20 patients with RGH at recovery period and 15 healthy volunteers. The results showed that RGH patients at acute period had a lower percentage of Tc1 subsets in peripheral blood than that of healthy controls (P < 0.001), especially a remarkable decreased percentage of Tc1 subsets (P < 0.001) among those RGH patients with recurrent number more than 3 in the recent half a year. Tc1/Tc2 ratio in the RGH patients at acute period was significantly decreased as compared with normal control group (P < 0.05). The recurrent number of acute patients in the recent half a year was significantly correlated with the percentage of Tc1 subsets and the ratio of Tc1/Tc2 (P < 0.05). A decreased percentage of Tc1 subsets was found among the RGH patients with recurrent number more than 3 in the recent half a year at recovery period in comparison with healthy volunteers (P < 0.05), and it was significantly correlated with the recurrent number in the recent half a year (P < 0.05). It is concluded that there are Tc1/Tc2 imbalance and a low level of Tc1 subsets in RGH patients who are relapsing repeatedly in the near period. The low level of Tc1 subsets may be an important factor for the recurrence of RGH and the reactivation of latent herpesvirus infection.