Objective To investigate the percentage of CD4 + CD25 + Treg cells and expression of Foxp3 mRNA in asthmatic patients and the impacts of inhaled steroids.Methods The percentages of CD4 +CD25 + Treg cells was assayed by flow cytometry and the expression of Foxp3 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the patients with chronic persistent asthma before and after steroids inhalation in comparison with healthy control. The forced expired volumin one second/predicted value( FEV1% pred) and peak expired flow( PEF) were measured by spirometry. Results The level of CD4 + CD25 + Treg cells and the expression of Foxp3 mRNA were lower in asthmatics before steroids treatment than those in control ( P lt; 0. 05) which were increased significantly after steroids treatment ( P lt; 0. 05) .FEV1% pred and PEF were declined significantly than those in control but improved markedly after treatment ( P lt; 0. 05) . Conclusions The insufficiency of amount and function of immue-suppressive CD4 + CD25 +Treg cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Inhaled steroids can improve the lung function of asthmatics by upregulating the level of CD4 + CD25 + Treg and Foxp3.
Objective To investigate the expression of transcription factor Foxp3 in the orthotopic liver transplantation by using the inbred rats with spontaneous immune tolerance. Methods The model of orthotopic liver transplantation was established on inbred rats according to double-sleeve technique. The total RNA that was isolated from liver was reversely transcribed into cDNA. The method of real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RFQ-PCR) was used to analyze the expression level of Foxp3 mRNA in tolerance group and syngeneic group, respectively. The expression of Scurfin in hepatic tissue was assayed by Western blot and then was analyzed by computer imaging system. Results The expression levels of Foxp3 mRNA and Scurfin in the transplanted liver were significantly lower than those of normal liver within the first week after transplantation. The level of Foxp3 mRNA began to increase on day 7 and reached the peak point on day 14. The expression level of Foxp3 mRNA began to decrease on day 30 but was still higher than the normal value (P＜0.05). The Western blot showed resemble changes on that of Scurfin. Conclusion Transcription factor Foxp3 may play an important role in the spontaneous immune tolerance in the orthotopic liver transplantation of inbred rat.