Imbalance of Th1, Th17, and Treg cells in peripheral blood of patients with lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis: a comparative study

Sporotrichosis is an infection caused by the microscopic fungus, Sporothrix schenckii. The disease follows the traumatic inoculation of fungus through injuries involving soil, inhalation of conidia, or zoonotic transmission especially from cat scratches. The objective of the retrospective cohort study was to investigate Th1, Th17, and Treg cell counts and host immunity in patients with lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis. From January 2017 to December 2018, 88 patients, diagnosed with sporotrichosis, were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into acute (≤3 months; n = 46) and non-acute (> 3 months; n = 42) groups based on duration of the disease. We also selected 46 healthy adult participants (control group) for comparison. Th1, Th17, and Treg subsets were tested using flow cytometry (p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant). The Th1 and Th17 cell counts of the acute group were higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05). The Th1 and Th17 cell counts of the non-acute group were lower than those of the control controls (p < 0.05). The longer the duration of disease, the lower the Th1 and Th17 cell counts, however, Treg cell counts were lower in the acute group and higher in the non-acute group, relative to the control group (p < 0.05). An imbalance of Th1, Th17, and Treg cells was found in patients with lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis. The severity and duration of the disease may be affected by the imbalance of Th1, Th17, and Treg cells.