Evaluation of regulatory T cells frequency and FoxP3 / GDF-15 gene expression in β-thalassemia major patients with and without alloantibody; correlation with serum ferritin and folate levels

This study was conducted on 68 β-thalassemia major patients with and without alloantibodies in comparison with 20 healthy individuals with matched age and sex as control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), flow cytometry, and real-time PCR were performed in order to evaluate serum ferritin and folate levels, frequency of Tregs, and the expression ofFoxP3 andGDF-15 genes, respectively. The percentage and absolute count of Tregs were increased in patients compared with controls (P = 0.0003), but there was no difference between responders and non-responders (P >  0.05). The Tregs count correlated positively with serum ferritin. No correlation was observed between target genes and serum ferritin and folate, but there was a positive significant correlation between the expression ofFoxP3 andGDF-15 genes, which shows the immunosuppressive role of GDF-15.
Source: Annals of Hematology - Category: Hematology Source Type: research