Impact of Yangyinqingfeihuoxue prescription on Th17/Treg balance in peripheral blood of rats with radioactive pulmonary fibrosis

DONG Guang-tong; LI Zheng; QI Xin; ZHOU Zhou; WU Xiao-hui; HOU Wei

Abstract：Objective:To observe the effect of Yangyinqingfeihuoxue prescription on Th17/Treg balance in peripheral blood of rats with radioactive pulmonary fibrosis,and discuss the mechanism of effect on prevention and control of radioactive pulmonary fibrosis.Methods:Fifty rats,male and female in half,were randomly divided into the normal control group,model group,hormone group,traditional Chinese medicine group,and combination group.The rats in the four groups except to the normal control group received single dose linear accelerator irradiation on all chest at a dose of 16 Gy.One day after irradiation the rats were given corresponding drugs by lavage.Ten rats in each group were sacrificed after 8 weeks of irradiation,and the whole lung was taken for weighing to calculate lung coefficient.Whole blood was taken to undergo flow cytometry.The differences in pulmonary coefficient,expressions of Treg and Th17 cells,and Th17/Treg among different groups were observed.Results:Eight weeks after radiation,there were obvious difference in lung coefficient,which was the most close between the normal group (2.57 ± 0.19) and combination group (3.10 ± 0.25).The model group had higher proportion of Th17 cells (1.51 _± 0.30) compared with the normal group (0.48 ± 0.06) (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the model group,the Th17 cell percentage of the combination group (0.54 ±0.31)decreased obviously (P ＜0.05).Compared with the normal group,the Treg cells of the model group (8.08 ± 0.93) vs (11.91 ± 0.91) reduced significantly (P ＜0.05).The Treg cell percentages of the hormone group,traditional Chinese medicine group,and combination group were higher than the model group,and the combination group increased in the most significant magnitude (10.33 ± 0.25) (P ＜ 0.05).There was no statistical difference in proportion of Treg cells between the hormone group (8.26 _± 0.71)and model group,or traditional Chinese medicine group (9.91 ± 0.19) and combination group (10.33 ± O.25) (P ＞ 0.05).The ratio of Th17/Treg of the model group (0.14 ± 0.05) increase statistically significant compared with the normal group (0.03 ±0.03)(P ＜0.05).The Th17/Treg ratios had no statistical difference between any two of the hormone group,traditional Chinese medicine group,combination group (P ＞0.05),but the combination group had significant difference compared with the model group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion:There exists peripheral blood Th17/Treg imbalance in rats of radioactive pulmonary fibrosis.Yangyinqingfeihuoxue prescription can effectively reduce the degree of local pulmonary fibrosis when combined with prednisone acetate dragon,the mechanism of which may be related to adjusting the balance between Th17 and Treg.