{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T16:49:03Z","timestamp":1786121343237,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786060800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aims to investigate the relationship between disease progression and changes in Th17\/Treg levels in patients with relapsing\u2013remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This retrospective study analyzed clinical data and Th17\/Treg cell levels from 130 RRMS patients and 100 non-inflammatory neurological disease controls treated between December 2021 and January 2025. Th17 cells were identified as CD4\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      IL-17A\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      cells and Treg cells as CD4\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      CD25\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      Foxp3\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      cells via flow cytometry.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The two groups were comparable in baseline characteristics (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;gt;\u202f0.05). The proportion of CD4\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      IL-17A\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      Th17 cells was significantly higher in RRMS patients than in controls (4.26\u202f\u00b1\u202f1.35% vs. 1.52\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.47%,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05), while CD4\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      CD25\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      Foxp3\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      Treg cells were significantly lower (2.91\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.98% vs. 5.38\u202f\u00b1\u202f1.52%,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). Acute-phase patients showed higher Th17 and lower Treg proportions than remission-phase patients (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). Following methylprednisolone treatment, Th17 cells decreased, Treg cells increased, and EDSS scores improved (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05 for all). Pearson correlation analysis revealed that Th17 proportion and Th17\/Treg ratio were positively correlated with EDSS scores (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.521,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.01;\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.485,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001), while Treg proportion was negatively correlated (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.387,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Th17\/Treg imbalance may be an important mechanism underlying RRMS pathogenesis and disease progression. Modulating this balance may represent a promising therapeutic target for RRMS.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fneur.2026.1887969","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T04:21:46Z","timestamp":1786076506000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Study on the relationship between disease progression and changes in Th17\/Treg levels in patients with relapsing\u2013remitting multiple sclerosis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jinshui","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University","place":["Zhangjiakou, Hebei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qian","family":"Xue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University","place":["Zhangjiakou, Hebei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoning","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University","place":["Zhangjiakou, Hebei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aixia","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University","place":["Zhangjiakou, Hebei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1159\/000382130","article-title":"Multiple sclerosis relapses: epidemiology, outcomes and management. 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