Unveiling the Th17/Treg Imbalance: a New Lens on Macular Perfusion in Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy.

IF 0.7 4区医学 Q4 MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY

Clinical laboratory Pub Date : 2026-08-01 DOI:10.7754/Clin.Lab.2025.250856

XiaoQing Zhou, Qian Sha

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between Th17/Treg imbalance and macular blood flow abnormalities in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO).

Methods: A prospective cohort study was designed to include 71 patients with TAO and 50 healthy controls. Macular blood flow measurements were quantified by optical coherence tomography angiography, including foveal vessel density (FVD) and foveal perfusion density (FPD) in 1 mm from the central fovea, macular vessel density (MVD) and macular perfusion density (MPD) in 6 mm from the central fovea, and macular foveal avascular zone (FAZ) was also measured. Peripheral blood Th17/Treg ratio was measured by flow cytometry and its association with blood flow measurements was assessed by multiple linear regression modeling, correcting for confounding factors such as age and gender.

Results: MVD (16.38 ± 2.83 vs. 18.91 ± 2.20, p < 0.001) and MPD (44.5% vs. 48.1%, p < 0.001) in the TAO group were significantly lower than those of the control group. Th17/Treg ratio showed a significant positive correlation with MPD (multifactorial β = 0.01, p = 0.002) and negatively correlated with FAZ (multifactorial β = -0.36, p = 0.018). No significant correlations were found for other indicators (FVD, FPD, and MVD) and confounders (TAO activity, gender, and age).

Conclusions: Th17/Treg imbalance is directly involved in microcirculatory disorders in TAO by decreasing MPD and enlarging macular FAZ, suggesting that immunomodulation may be a therapeutic target to improve macular blood flow abnormalities in TAO patients.

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揭示Th17/Treg失衡：甲状腺相关性眼病黄斑灌注的新晶状体。

背景：本研究旨在探讨甲状腺相关性眼病（TAO）患者Th17/Treg失衡与黄斑血流异常之间的关系。方法：采用前瞻性队列研究，纳入71例TAO患者和50例健康对照。通过光学相干断层血管造影定量测量黄斑血流，包括距中央凹1mm处的中央凹血管密度（FVD）和中央凹灌注密度（FPD），距中央凹6mm处的黄斑血管密度（MVD）和黄斑灌注密度（MPD），并测量黄斑中央凹无血管带（FAZ）。采用流式细胞术测量外周血Th17/Treg比率，并通过多元线性回归模型评估其与血流量测量的相关性，校正了年龄和性别等混杂因素。结果：TAO组MVD（16.38±2.83比18.91±2.20,p < 0.001）、MPD（44.5%比48.1%,p < 0.001）明显低于对照组。Th17/Treg比值与MPD呈显著正相关（多因子β = 0.01, p = 0.002），与FAZ呈显著负相关（多因子β = -0.36, p = 0.018）。其他指标（FVD、FPD和MVD）和混杂因素（TAO活性、性别和年龄）之间没有发现显著相关性。结论：Th17/Treg失衡通过降低MPD和增大黄斑FAZ直接参与TAO微循环障碍，提示免疫调节可能是改善TAO患者黄斑血流异常的治疗靶点。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Clinical laboratory 医学-医学实验技术

CiteScore

1.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

494

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Clinical Laboratory is an international fully peer-reviewed journal covering all aspects of laboratory medicine and transfusion medicine. In addition to transfusion medicine topics Clinical Laboratory represents submissions concerning tissue transplantation and hematopoietic, cellular and gene therapies. The journal publishes original articles, review articles, posters, short reports, case studies and letters to the editor dealing with 1) the scientific background, implementation and diagnostic significance of laboratory methods employed in hospitals, blood banks and physicians'' offices and with 2) scientific, administrative and clinical aspects of transfusion medicine and 3) in addition to transfusion medicine topics Clinical Laboratory represents submissions concerning tissue transplantation and hematopoietic, cellular and gene therapies.