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Abstract Background Previous studies showed that soluble IL-2Rα is an important marker of cellular immune activation and might be a marker of treatment efficacy for children with brucellosis. However, data regarding adult patients with brucellosis were unknown. The aim of study was to explore the potential role of serum sIL-2Rα evaluating treatment responses in adult patients with brucellosis, and T cell immune status was also examined. Methods During January 2016–April 2017, 30 patients with acute brucellosis from the Third People’s Hospital of Linfen in Shanxi Province and Beijing Di Tan Hospital, and 28 healthy controls were included in this study. Peripheral blood samples were collected before and after six weeks of antibiotic treatment. Serum sIL-2Rα levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the percentage of Th1, Th2, Tc1, Tc2, and Tregs was detected by flow cytometry after intracellular staining for cytokines (interferon-γ and interleukin-4) and Foxp3 in T lymphocytes from peripheral blood. The obtained data were analyzed with Wilcoxon ranked sum tests for paired values, Mann-Whitney U-tests for comparisons between patients and healthy controls, and Spearman rank tests for correlation analyses. Results Serum sIL-2Rα levels were significantly higher in patients than in controls (P = 0.001). A significant decline was observed in patients after the cessation of treatment (P 0.05). Th1, Tc1, Th2, and Tc2 cell frequencies were higher in patients than in healthy subjects (P

Abstract Background The immunoregulatory functions of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the development and progression of some chronic infectious diseases are mediated by immune checkpoint molecules and immunosuppressive cytokines. However, little is known about the immunosuppressive functions of Tregs in human brucellosis, which is a major burden in low-income countries. In this study, expressions of immune checkpoint molecules and Treg-related cytokines in patients with acute and chronic Brucella infection were evaluated to explore their impact at different stages of infection. Methods Forty patients with acute brucellosis and 19 patients with chronic brucellosis admitted to the Third People’s Hospital of Linfen in Shanxi Province between August 2016 and November 2017 were enrolled. Serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from patients before antibiotic treatment and from 30 healthy subjects. The frequency of Tregs (CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ T cells) and expression of CTLA-4, GITR, and PD-1 on Treg cells were detected by flow cytometry. Levels of Treg-related cytokines, including IL-35, TGF-β1, and IL-10, were measured by customised multiplex cytokine assays using the Luminex platform. Results The frequency of Tregs was higher in chronic patients than in healthy controls (P = 0.026) and acute patients (P = 0.042); The frequency of CTLA-4+ Tregs in chronic patients was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (P = 0.011). The frequencies of GITR+ and PD-1+ Tregs were significantly higher in acute and chronic patients than in healthy controls (P 0.05). Serum TGF-β1 levels were higher in chronic patients (P = 0.029) and serum IL-10 levels were higher in acute patients (P = 0.033) than in healthy controls. We detected weak correlations between serum TGF-β1 levels and the frequencies of Tregs (R = 0.309, P = 0.031) and CTLA-4+ Tregs (R = 0.302, P = 0.035). Conclusions Treg cell immunity is involved in the chronicity of Brucella infection and indicates the implication of Tregs in the prognosis of brucellosis. CTLA-4 and TGF-β1 may contribute to Tregs-mediated immunosuppression in the chronic infection stage of a Brucella infection.