Analysis of Treg cell population in patients with breast cancer with respect to progesterone receptor status

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed type of cancer in women worldwide. Both the development and progression of breast cancer are related to tumour evasion of the immune system through a process called cancer immune-editing, in which regulatory lymphocytes play an important role. The infiltration of Treg cells in patients with breast cancer has been proposed as an independent unfavourable prognostic factor. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the percentages of the Treg cell populations in the peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer with respect to progesterone receptor expression. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 27 patients with breast cancer treated in the Clinical Department of Breast Cancer and Reconstructive Surgery of the Professor Franciszek Lukaszczyk Oncological Centre, Bydgoszcz. Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the percentage of CD25+/ FOXP3+/CD127 (–/low) T cells within CD3+/CD4+ T cells. The presence of CD25+/FOXP3+/ CD127 (–/low) T cells within CD3+/ CD4+ T cells was identified in all the examined blood samples. A statistically significantly higher percentage of CD25+/FOXP3+/CD127 (–/low) T cells within CD3+/CD4+ T cells was observed in progesterone receptor (PR)-negative breast cancer patients when compared to PR-positive breast cancer patients. The observed high percentage of CD25+/FOXP3+/CD127 (–/low) T cells within CD3+/CD4+ T cells in PR (–) breast cancer patients when compared to PR (+) breast cancer patients seems to confirm the unfavourable prognostic significance of these cells in breast cancer patients. This may indicate a rationale for combining standard oncological treatment in breast cancer patients with Treg-depleting therap

Changes in the Treg lymphocyte population levels in patients being treated for ovarian cancer with chemotherapy

Regulatory T lymphocytes CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ or Treg cells play a major role in immune system surveillance and tolerance. Treg cells are critical for controlling the immunological system because they inhibit the cytotoxic response. Moreover, it has been found that Treg cell recruitment into the tumor microenvironment reduces the chances of survival in cancer patients and that an increase in Treg cells in the peripheral blood correlates with the progression of ovarian cancer. In our study we addressed Treg cell population changes in cases of ovarian cancer where the patients were treated with chemotherapy. Using flow cytometry we determined the levels of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of the patients prior to chemotherapy, after 3 courses of chemotherapy, and then after 6 courses (the respective regimens were: TK – 13, CP – 1, TPT – 1 patient). We observed that the Treg lymphocyte levels of ovarian cancer patients decreased after 3 courses of chemotherapy though the difference (p=0.3) was not statistically significant. After 6 chemotherapy courses, however, levels did increase to a statistically significant degree (p=0.02). We have therefore concluded that a measurement of the Treg cell population could be helpful in estimating the impact of chemotherapy on a patient’s host immune system during the systemic treatment of ovarian cancer.Limfocyty regulatorowe T CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ (komórki Treg) odgrywają istotną rolę w mechanizmach nadzoru i tolerancji immunologicznej, hamując odpowiedź cytotoksyczną układu odpornościowego. Wykazano, że w trakcie rozwoju choroby nowotworowej liczebność limfocytów Treg wzrasta. Obecność nacieków z limfocytów Treg w mikrośrodowisku guza wiąże się z gorszym rokowaniem, a wzrost populacji komórek Treg we krwi obwodowej koreluje z progresją raka jajnika. W niniejszym badaniu sprawdzano wpływ chemioterapii stosowanej u chorych z rakiem jajnika na liczebność populacji Treg we krwi obwodowej. W tym celu odsetek Treg we krwi oznaczano przed, po 3 oraz po 6 kursach chemioterapii (TK – 13, CP – 1, TPT – 1 chora) za pomocą cytometrii przepływowej. Podczas pierwszych 3 cykli chemioterapii zaobserwowano początkowe zmniejszenie odsetka limfocytów T CD4+CD25+ FOXP3+ wśród limfocytów T CD4+, niemniej jednak różnica ta nie była znamienna statystycznie (p=0,3). Następnie w miarę kontynuowania chemioterapii odsetek limfocytów T CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ wśród limfocytów T CD4+ wzrastał i po 6. cyklu w stosunku do aktywności po 3. cyklu chemioterapii był statystycznie znamiennie większy (p=0,02). Autorzy wnioskują, że badanie populacji Treg może być przydatne do oceny wpływu chemioterapii na układ odpornościowy gospodarza podczas leczenia systemowego chorych na raka jajnika

Revealing the influence of hyporheic water exchange on the composition and abundance of bottom-dwelling macroinvertebrates in a temperate lowland river

We studied distributions and abundances of macroinvertebrates in relation to hyporheic water exchange (HWE) patterns of the upper Biebrza − a small, lowland, low dynamic European river located in Northeast Poland. On a 6-km stretch of the river; we determined the variability of water exchange in the hyporheic zone by using direct field measurements of the pressure gradient to determine groundwater–surface water interactions. We identified locations with upwelling and downwelling fluxes of HWE as well as ambiguous hydraulic contact between groundwater and surface water along the river. In these locations, we sampled bottom-dwelling macroinvertebrates. In total, 627 individuals of benthic macroinvertebrates of 34 taxa were identified. We revealed that bottom-dwelling macroinvertebrate fauna is more abundant and diverse in river stretches where water from the river infiltrates the hyporheic zone. Results also show higher taxonomic richness and abundances of benthic macroinvertebrates in stretches with diagnosed infiltrating conditions (downwelling flux in a hyporheic zone) compared to in stretches where the river drained groundwater (upwelling flux in a hyporheic zone), but the recorded differences were not statistically significant