CORRELATION BETWEEN SERUM CD4 + CD29 + T CELLS AND SERUM HIF-1Α, COX-2 LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH ULCERATIVE COLITIS

Xiugang Pan¹, Zhaoyi Li², Fengyan Wang³, Huimin Yu⁴, Yingming Li^{5, *}

¹Endoscopy Center, Weihai Central Hospital, Weihai, PR China - ²School of Radiology, Shandong First Medical University, Tai’an, PR China - ³Department of Gastroenterology, Weihai Central Hospital, Weihai, PR China - ⁴Department of Oncology, Weihai Central Hospital, Weihai, PR China - ⁵Department of Pathology, Weihai Central Hospital, Weihai, PR China

Objective: To study the correlation between serum CD4 + CD29 + T cells and serum hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) levels in patients with ulcerative colitis. 

Methods: Eighty patients with ulcerative colitis treated in the department of gastroenterology in our hospital from August 2018 to August 2019 were randomly selected as the study group. Based on their condition, patients were divided into two subgroups: the remission group and the active group. Forty healthy people in the physical examination center of our hospital were used as the control group. Serum CD4 + CD29 + T cells, HIF-1α, and COX-2 levels were detected and compared in each group, and correlation between serum CD4 + CD29 + T cells and serum HIF-1α and COX-2 levels in patients with ulcerative colitis was explored. 

Results: The percentage of CD4 + CD29 + T cells in patients with ulcerative colitis in active stage was much higher than that in healthy people and patients with ulcerative colitis in remission stage, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01); patients with active stage of ulcerative colitis. The levels of HIF-1α and COX-2 were significantly higher than those in healthy people and patients with ulcerative colitis in remission stage, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the percentage of CD4 + CD29 + T cells, HIF-1α, and COX-2 levels in healthy people and patients with ulcerative colitis in remission stage (P<0.05). HIF-1α was not expressed or weakly expressed in the intestinal tissue of healthy people and patients with ulcerative colitis in remission phase. HIF-1α appeared obvious expression state in intestinal inflammatory cells, vascular endothelial cells and epithelial cells in patients with ulcerative colitis in active stage; the cytoplasm and nucleus of cells were brownish yellow or brown. COX-2 was not expressed in the intestinal tissue of healthy people and patients with ulcerative colitis in remission stage. COX-2 was significantly expressed in inflammatory cells, vascular endothelial cells and epithelial cells in the intestine of patients with ulcerative colitis in active stage. In the Pearson correlation analysis, CD4 + CD29 + T cells were positively correlated with HIF-1α and COX-2 (r1 = 0.512, r2 = 0.439, P<0.05), and HIF-1α was positively correlated with COX-2 (r = 0.691, P = 0.021). 

Conclusion: The levels of serum CD4 + CD29 + T cells, serum HIF-1α and COX-2 in patients with ulcerative colitis are higher than those in healthy people. CD4 + CD29 + T cells are positively correlated with HIF-1α and COX-2.