Background/aims: The imbalance of Treg/Th17 cells plays important role in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Response gene to complement (RGC)-32 is a cell cycle regulator that plays an important role in cell proliferation. We evaluated whether the upregulation of RGC-32 was implicated in the homeostasis of Treg/Th17 cells in DCM.
Methods: The levels of plasma RGC-32, IL-17 and TGF-β1, and the frequencies of circulating CD4+ RGC-32+ T cells, Th17 and Treg cells in patients with DCM were determined by Cytokine-specific sandwich ELISA and the flow cytometer (FCM), respectively.
Results: A significant elevation of plasma RGC-32 in patients with DCM compared with healthy control (HC) subjects was observed. This upregulation was associated with an increase in frequency of Th17 and a decrease in frequency of Treg cells. To further assessed the role of RGC-32, we investigated the effects of RGC-32 up- or down-regulation on frequencies of Th17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from subjects. Importantly, overexpression of RGC-32 was accompanied by an augmentation of Th17 and a reduction of Treg expression.
Conclusion: In summary, our study demonstrated the up-regulation of RGC-32 contributed to the imbalance of Treg/Th17 cells in patients with DCM.
Keywords: Dilated cardiomyopathy; Foxp3+ Treg cells; IL-17+ Th17 cells; Response gene to complement-32.
© 2017 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.