Th17/Treg imbalance is an indicator of liver cirrhosis process and a risk factor for HCC occurrence in HBV patients

Summary Objective To determine the impact of T helper 17 cell (Th17)/regulatory T cell (Treg) ratio imbalance on the process and prognosis of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related liver cirrhosis. Methods Patients with HBV who refused to accept any therapy from were recruited from 2009 to 2014 and followed-up to August 2016. Based on a liver stiffness measurement (LSM), the patients were divided into a low LSM group and a high LSM group. After propensity score matching, 150 patients were included. The peripheral blood of all subjects was tested using a flow cytometer to measure the Th17 and Treg cell frequencies and the Th17/Treg ratio. Spearman rank correlation, log-rank test, Cox regression model, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were applied to analyze the correlation between the Th17/Treg ratio and LSM level and the risk factors of HCC occurrence and to predict the Th17/Treg ratio for the LSM level. Results Th17 and Treg cell frequencies and the Th17/Treg ratio were significantly different between the low and high LSM groups. The Th17/Treg ratio showed a strong positive association with LSM level ( r  = 0.631, P Conclusion Th17/Treg ratio imbalance is an indicator of the liver cirrhosis process and a risk factor for HCC occurrence in patients infected with HBV.