Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 16, 2023; 11(29): 7075-7081
Published online Oct 16, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i29.7075
Effect of T-regulatory cells and interleukin-35, interleukin-10, and transforming growth factor-beta on diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
Hao Wu, Hui-Cong Sun, Gui-Fang Ouyang
Hao Wu, Gui-Fang Ouyang, Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo 315010, Zhejiang Province, China
Hui-Cong Sun, Adult Internal Medicine, Ningbo Women and Children's Hospital, Ningbo 315012, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Wu H designed and performed the research and wrote the article, Sun HC edited the article, Ouyang GF supervised the article.
Supported by Zhejiang TCM Science and Technology Project, No. 2023ZL653; Zhejiang Medical Science and Technology Plan Project-Clinical Research Application Project A, No. 2021KY273
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University.
Informed consent statement: All study participants or their legal guardians provided written informed consent before study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: All authors agree to data sharing.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement – checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement – checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Gui-Fang Ouyang, MD, Chief Physician, Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, No. 59 Liuting Street, Ningbo 315010, Zhejiang Province, China. oyguifangoy@163.com
Received: August 4, 2023
Peer-review started: August 4, 2023
First decision: August 24, 2023
Revised: September 8, 2023
Accepted: September 18, 2023
Article in press: September 18, 2023
Published online: October 16, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma worldwide, representing approximately 30%–40% of all NHL cases in different geographic regions. Although the pathogenesis of DLBCL is obscure, causes of DLBCL have attracted increasing attention; immune regulatory disorders may be one of them."

Research motivation

We aimed to explore the effect of T-regulatory cells (Tregs) interleukin (IL)-35, IL-10, and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) on DLBCL, which may be helpful in the analysis of disease prognosis.

Research objectives

Expression levels of the IL-35, IL-10, and TGF-β cytokines in the serum and levels of CD4-positive (+), CD8+, and Tregs among single-nucleated cells were measured to analyze their correlation with DLBCL.

Research methods

Seventy-nine patients were included in the statistical analysis and divided into three groups according to the evaluation of clinical efficacy: incipient (new-onset and treatment-naïve), effectively treated, and relapsed-refractory. Thirty healthy individuals were included in the control group. The expression of peripheral blood T lymphocytes and their associated factors IL-35, IL-10, and TGF-β in the four groups were observed.

Research results

In contrast to the successfully treated and normal control groups, both the incipient and relapse-refractory groups exhibited greater proportions of CD4-positive (+) Tregs (P < 0.05), whereas the proportion of CD8+ Tregs did not differ substantially between the groups. Compared to the effectively treated and normal control groups, the incipient and relapsed-refractory groups exhibited higher serum levels of IL-35 and IL-10 (P < 0.05), although the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant distinction in the expression level of TGF-β between the groups (P > 0.05).

Research conclusions

We demonstrated elevated serum concentrations of IL-35 and IL-10 and an elevated percentage of Tregs in treatment-naïve DLBCL patients and DLBCL patients with suboptimal outcomes, which may be closely associated with the occurrence and development of DLBCL.

Research perspectives

Our study highlights the possible pathophysiological processes of DLBCL and provides a potential approach for the treatment, disease assessment, and prognosis of DLBCL.