Effect of thymosin alpha-1 on subpopulations of Th1, Th2, Th17, and regulatory T cells (Tregs) in vitro

• Main Authors: Xia Yang, Feng Qian, Hai-Yang He, Kai-Jun Liu, Yuan-Zhi Lan, Bing Ni, Yi Tian, Xiao-Lan Fu, Ji Zhang, Zi-Gang Shen, Jian Li, Yi Yin, Jin-Tao Li, Yu-Zhang Wu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Brasileira de Divulgação Científica 2012-01-01
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research
• Subjects: Tα1; Gastric carcinoma; Tregs; Th1; Th2; Th17
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-879X2012000100005
• ISSN: 0100-879X; 1414-431X

Thymosin alpha 1 (T&#945;1) has been shown to have beneficial effects on numerous immune system parameters, but little is known about the effects of T&#945;1 on patients with gastric carcinoma. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of T&#945;1 on subpopulations of Th1, Th2, Th17, and regulatory T cells (Tregs) in vitro, and to evaluate its efficacy as an immunoregulatory factor in patients with gastric carcinoma. We compared the effect of T&#945;1 on the frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, especially the CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from gastric carcinoma patients (N = 35) and healthy donors (N = 22). We also analyzed the changes in the proliferation of PBMCs in response to treatment with T&#945;1, and examined the production of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines by PBMCs and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. The treatment of PBMCs from gastric cancer patients, with T&#945;1 (50 µg/mL) alone increased the percentage of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ (suppressive antitumor-specific Tregs) from 1.68 ± 0.697 to 2.19 ± 0.795% (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that T&#945;1 increases the percentage of Tregs and IL-1&#946;, TNF-&#945;, and IL-6 in vitro.