Abstract: Objective: To investigate the changes of T, B lymphocytes and certain costimulatory molecules in peripheral blood of patients with Graves′ disease (GD) by Chinese integrative medicine treatment. Methods: Flow cytometry was employed to analyze a panel of cell surface molecules, consisting of CD19, CD40, CD80, CD3, CD4, CD8 and CD28， in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of 20 untreated GD patients (the untreated group)， 11 patients treated with methimazole alone (the western medicine group, the WM group)， 16 patients treated with methimazole and Chinese Herb Wuyue Kangjia Pills (the Chinese integrative medicine group, the CIM group), and 16 healthy individuals (the control group). Results: The percentages of CD19⁺, CD40⁺, CD19⁺CD40⁺, CD80⁺ cells remarkably increased, while CD3⁺CD8⁺ cells decreased and the ratio of CD3⁺CD4⁺ to CD3⁺CD8⁺ increased in PBL of the untreated GD patients compared with the normal group(P＜0.01 or P＜0.05). The CD80⁺ cells returned to normal in the WM group. The percentages of CD3⁺CD4⁺ cells and the ratio of CD3⁺CD4⁺ to CD3⁺CD8⁺ remarkably increased compared with the normal group(P＜0.05, P＜0.01), whereas the percentages of CD3⁺CD8⁺, CD8⁺CD28⁺ cells significantly decreased compared with the normal group (P＜0.01, P＜0.05). Except for the percentage of CD80, all the above molecules were not statistically different between the CIM group and the normal group. Moreover, compared with the WM group, the percentages of CD3⁺CD8⁺ and CD8+CD28+ cells significantly increased (P＜0.01, P＜0.05), CD3+CD4+ cells significantly decreased (P＜0.01), and the CD3⁺CD4⁺/CD3⁺CD8⁺ ratio decreased to the normal level in the CIM group. Conclusions: The immunological disorders in GD patients show a cellular immune disregulation as well as a high level of humoral immunity. Treatment with CIM is helpful for the improvement of both humoral and cellular immunity in GD patients.

Key words: Graves′ disease, Lymphocytes, Costimulatory molecules, Chinese herbGraves