Level changes and clinical significance of Th22 cells in peripheral blood in patients with viral myocarditis

Xie Hongying; Luo Xiaoli; Luo Hao

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-4055.2019.11.05

Abstract：observe the level changes and clinical significance of Th22 cells in peripheral blood in patients with viral myocarditis (VMC). Methods VMC patients (n=180) were chosen from Daping Hospital of Chinese PLA Army Medical University from May 2013 to May 2018, and divided according to severity of VMC, into mild VMC group (n=70), moderate VMC group (n=56) and severe VMC group (n=54). At the same time the healthy controls (n=60) were chosen into control group. The level changes of Th22 cells in peripheral blood were detected by using flow cytometer, and levels of interleukin-22 (IL-22) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) were detected by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The predictive value of Th22 cells to severity of VMC and correlation among Th22 cells and other indexes were analyzed. Results The levels of Th22 and IL-22 were higher in VMC groups than those in control group (P<0.05). The difference in levels of Th22, IL-22 and IL-17 had statistical significance among different VMC groups (P<0.05), and the highest in severe VMC group, secondarily in moderate VMC group and lowest in mild VMC group. The level changes of Th22 cells were positively correlated to level of IL-22 (r=0.874, P<0.0001) and level of IL17 (r=0.865, P=0.0001). The analysis of ROC showed that AUC of Th22 cell level was 0.846 (95%CI: 0.754~0.937), optimal operating point (OOP) was 8.1%, sensitivity was 76.9% and specificity was 81.0%. Conclusion The level changes of Th22 cells are closely correlated to the incidence and development of VMC, and has some clinical value to predicting VMC severity in VMC patients.