Objective To explore the frequencies of Tc17 cells level in the peripheral blood of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and their clinical significance.Methods The peripheral blood of 20 Crohns disease (CD) patients and 20 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients were collected in this study.The frequencies of Tc17 cells were analyzed by flow cytometry.The peripheral blood of 20 healthy donors was obtained as the control.Results Compared with healthy donors

the frequencies of Tc17 cells in CD and UC patients were significantly increased

the differences were significant(P<0.05)

but no statistical difference was observed between CD and UC group (P>0.05).Furthermore

the frequencies of Tc17 cells in active stage of CD and UC patients were also higher than those in remission stage (P<0.05)

but there was no statistical difference between CD active stage and UC active stage or CD remission stage and UC remission stage (P>0.05).Conclusion The proportion of circulating Tc17 cells were increased in the IBD patients

which is closely related to the progression of IBD

monitoring Tc17 cells in the peripheral blood of IBD patients may aid the judgment of disease activity.