Study on the relationship between disease progression and changes in Th17/Treg levels in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis

Source: PubMed Central Open Access, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine

Objective This study aims to investigate the relationship between disease progression and changes in Th17/Treg levels in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Methods This retrospective study analyzed clinical data and Th17/Treg cell levels from 130 RRMS patients and 100 non-inflammatory neurological disease controls treated between December 2021 and January 2025. Th17 cells were identified as CD4IL-17Acells and Treg cells as CD4CD25Foxp3cells via flow cytometry. Results The two groups were comparable in baseline characteristics (> 0.05). The proportion of CD4IL-17ATh17 cells was significantly higher in RRMS patients than in controls (4.26 ± 1.35% vs. 1.52 ± 0.47%,< 0.05), while CD4CD25Foxp3Treg cells were significantly lower (2.91 ± 0.98% vs. 5.38 ± 1.52%,< 0.05). Acute-phase patients showed higher Th17 and lower Treg proportions than remission-phase patients (< 0.05). Following methylprednisolone treatment, Th17 cells decreased, Treg cells increased, and EDSS scores improved (< 0.05 for all). Pearson correlation analysis revealed that Th17 proportion and Th17/Treg ratio were positively correlated with EDSS scores (= 0.521,< 0.01;= 0.485,< 0.001), while Treg proportion was negatively correlated (= −0.387,< 0.05). Conclusion Th17/Treg imbalance may be an important mechanism underlying RRMS pathogenesis and disease progression. Modulating this balance may represent a promising therapeutic target for RRMS.