Changes of regulatory T cells in Graves' disease.

The immune mechanism of Graves' diseases (GD) and the roles of regulator T cells were investigated. In 32 patients with GD (GD group) and 20 healthy volunteers (control group), flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of CD4+CD25+ cells, MACS to isolate CD4+ CD25+ cells, RT-PCR to assay the expression of FOXP3, and ELISA to test the level of IL-10, respectively. It was found that there was no significant change in the proportion of CD4+CD25+ T cells between GD group and control group (P>0.05), while secretion of IL-10 and expression of FOXP3 in GD group were lower than control group (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). In conclusion, though the proportion of regulatory T cells of peripheral blood lymphocytes in the patients with GD, the functions of them were significantly weakened, which might be a pathogenic factor in GD.