Immunological balance skewing Th1,Th17 towards Th2,Treg in OSCC of hamster induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Liam

The study investigates how CD4+ helper T-cell subsets regulate immunological balance during oral epithelial malignant transformation. It tracks Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg, along with Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg ratios, from normal epithelium through OPMDs to oral squamous cell carcinoma in golden hamsters. Findings show Th2 and Treg increase while Th1 and Th17 decrease across lesion progression, with ratio shifts varying by stage. Results support involvement of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg balance changes in carcinogenesis and cancerization.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Oral squamous cell carcinoma and immune microenvironment

Materials and methods

Experimental animals

Shao et al. BMCOral Health (2025) 25:1394 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-025-06712-w](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-025-06712-w) BMC Oral Health RESEARCH Open Access Immunological balance skewing Th1,Th17 towards Th2,Treg in OSCC of hamster induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene Qi Shao 1,2, Hongyuan Li3 and YuanyeTian 1* Abstract Background It has been reported that CD4 + helper T cells, such as Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg, play crucial roles in the immunological balance especially when the immune system is invaded by the tumor. Oral squamous cell carcinoma undergoes a process from normal epithelium to dysplasia. However, the dynamic equilibrium of Th1/Th2 and Th17/ Treg remained unclear during the process of epithelial malignant transformation. The present study was performed to describe the changes of Th1, Th2, Th17, Treg, Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg in golden hamsters induced Oral Potentially malignant Disorders (OPMDs) and oral squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Using the carcinogenic agent 7,12-dimethyl benz [a]anthracene to smear the Syrian golden hamster cheek pouch mucosa every 3 days, OPMDs and oral squamous cell carcinoma models had been induced. Samples were obtained surgically from the hamster, grind into single cell suspension, and tested by flow cytometry. Result With the increasing of Th2 and Treg has been the decreasing of Th1 and Th17 from normal epithelium to OPMDs and oral squamous cell carcinoma. Th1/Th2 ratio and Th17/Treg ratio were changing in the different lesion. Conclusion Our findings suggested that the shift of Th1/Th2 balance toTh2 might involve in the occurrence and development of normal mucosal carcinogenesis, while the shift of Th17/Treg balance toTreg might involve in the occurrence of normal mucosal cancerization. Keywords OSCC, OPMDs, Helper t cell, Immunological balance *Correspondence: YuanyeTian[tyy@jlu.edu.cn](tyy@jlu.edu.cn) 1Department of Craniomaxillofacial Plastic and Cosmetic Center, Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, No. 1500 Qinghua Road, Changchun, Jilin 130021, China 2Department of Stomatology, The Third Bethune Hospital of Jilin University, No.126 Xiantai Street, Changchun, Jilin 130021, China 3Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Xiangya Stomalogical Hospital & School of Stomatology, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410078, China Introduction Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a highly malignant disease that threatens global human health. There are more than 300,000 new OSCC patients in the world each year, accounting for 2.1% of the world’s tumors [1]. OSCC generally develops from normal oral mucosa to dysplasia before finally developing into OSCC. The immune microenvironment played a crucial role in maintaining the homeostasis of oral mucosal epithelial cells. A dysregulated microenvironment could promote normal oral mucosa to dysplasia, and this dysregulated microenvironment would make OPMDs more easily converted to OSCC [2]. Recently, studies had shown that in © The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this

FAQs

What immunological markers were evaluated during OSCC progression?

The study assessed Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg frequencies, as well as the Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg ratios.

How were the OPMDs and OSCC models induced in hamsters?

OPMDs and oral squamous cell carcinoma models were induced using the carcinogenic agent 7,12-dimethyl benz[a]anthracene smearing on Syrian golden hamster cheek pouch mucosa every 3 days.

What overall trends were observed in T-cell subsets from normal epithelium to cancer?

As lesions progressed, Th2 and Treg increased while Th1 and Th17 decreased, and both Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg ratios changed depending on lesion stage.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Liam