Changes of regulatory T cells in peripheral blood of patients with medicamentosa-like dermatitis due to trichloroethylene

Objective The changes of regulatory T cells and T cell subsets in peripheral blood of patients with occupational medicamentosa-like dermatitis due to trichloroethylene(OMLDT) was observed to help understand the potential mechanism of this disease.

Methods The proportion of CD4⁺CD25⁺ regulatory T cells(Tregs) and T cell subsets in peripheral blood of 28 patients with OMLDT in both acute stage and clinical cure stage was detected by flow cytometry, and the results were compared with those of 28 healthy persons without any TCE exposure.

Results CD4⁺CD25⁺ Tregs of these patients in the clinical cure stage was (2.40% ±0.42%), significantly higher than that in the acute stage(0.97% ±0.52%)(P < 0.01), but still lower than that of the healthy persons (4.77% ±0.81%)(P < 0.01). The percentage of CD4⁺T cells in clinical cure stage was(43.29% ±2.67%), significantly higher than that in acute stage(30.57% ±8.63%)(P < 0.01), but no difference with that of healthy persons(42.96% ±2.48%)(P > 0.05). The percentage of CD8+T cells in clinical cure stage was (28.61% ±5.14%), significantly lower than that in the acute stage(42.68% ±13.07%)(P < 0.01), but no difference with that of the healthy persons (28.38% ±4.92%)(P > 0.05).

Conclusion The regulatory T cell immune disorder in patients with OMLDT is significantly improved after treatment, which suggested that occurrence of OMLDT may be related to the disorder of T cell immune regulation.