The Study Of The Levels Of CD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cells And CD4+CD25～(high) Regulatory T Cells In Peripheral Blood Of Patients With Coronary Heart Disease

Objective This study is designed to analyse the levels of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells(CD4+CD25+Treg) and CD4+CD25high regulatory T cells(CD4+CD25high Treg) in peripheral blood of patients with different subtype of coronary heart disease(CHD). We also studied the levels of high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) and peripheral white blood cells(PWBC) in order to investigate the relationship between the immune and inflammation mechanism and the instability of coronary atherosclerotic plaque.Methods 63 patients with coronary heart disease were divided into 3 groups.19 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 31 with unstable angina pectoris (UAP),13 with stable angina pectoris(SAP).Meanwhile,13 healthy controls were studied. UAP and SAP were confirmed by coronary angiography. All people admitted had no history of infection,fever,tumor,hepatic insufficiency,renal insufficiency and systemic immunologic diseases. CD4+CD25+Treg and CD4+CD25high Treg in peripheral blood were measured by flow cytometry. Levels of hsCRP and PWBC were also detected by respective methodology.Results The ratios of CD4+CD25+Treg/CD4+T cells in patients with AMI and UAP were significantly lower than those in the SAP patients and healthy controls(P<0.01).The ratios of CD4+CD25high Treg/CD4+T cells in AMI and UAP patients were lower than those in the SAP patients(P<0.05),but show no statistical difference when compared with healthy controls(P>0.05).The concentrations of hsCRP in AMI patients were significantly higher than other groups (P<0.01);UAP and SAP patients also exhibited seemingly higher concentration than control , which yet was of no statistical significance(P>0.05).The amounts of PWBC in AMI group were the highest of all groups ,which were statistically higher than those in UAP group(P<0.05) and much higher than those in SAP group and controls group (P<0.01). The amounts of PWBC in UAP group were much higher than those in control group(P<0.05).The same indexes in SAP group were lower than those in UAP group and higher than those in control group which yet showed no statistical significance(P>0.05). In patients with coronary heart disease, there were obvious positive correlation between the levels of hsCRP and amounts of PWBC(P<0.01).Conclusion The instability of atherosclerotic plaque in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients may be related to the immune and inflammation abnormality. The obvious decrease of CD4+CD25+Treg level in peripheral blood of ACS patients may breakdown the balance of autoimmune and then lead to unstable atherosclerotic plaque. It is worth to discuss wether there are better marks to evaluate regulatory T cells instead of CD4+CD25high Treg.