Differentiation direction of Th lymphocytes in peripheral blood of patients with chronic urticaria

Objective To investigate the differentiation direction of Th cells in peripheral blood of patients with chronic urticaria and to analyze its possible immunopathogenesis. Methods A four-color immunoflurescent antibody was used to stain the peripheral blood T cells in observation and control groups.The concentrations of CD⁴⁺/IFN-γ⁺（Th1） and CD⁴⁺/IL-⁴⁺（Th2） cells in peripheral blood of both groups were measured by flow cytometry.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells（PBMC） were separated from peripheral blood specimens from patients with chronic urticaria and controls.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction（RT-PCR） was performed to analyze the expression of IFN-γR mRNA in PBMC. Results Compared to the controls,the number of Th1 cells and the ratio of Th1/Th2 were decreased while the number of Th2 cells was increased dramatically（P＜0.05） in patients with chronic urticaria（P＜0.05）.The mRNA expression level of IFN-γR was significantly lower in chronic urticaria patients than in healthy controls（P＜0.05）. Conclusion There is a differentiation bias of Th cells in peripheral blood of patients with chronic urticaria,which might be a key factor for its possible immunopathogenesis.