Abstract: Objective · To study the effect of glucose on moCD4+ T cell differentiation. Methods · Mona.ve CD4+ T cells cultured in the regulatory T cell (Treg), Th1, Th17 or Th2 differention condition were treated with different concentrations of glucose for 5 days. Treg, Th1, Th17 or Th2 percentages were measuredflow cytometry. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect the gene s of related cytokines and transcriptional factors. Results · The proportions of Treg and Th2 as well as the gene s of transforming growth factor-β, interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-13, and transcriptional factors, Foxp3 (forkhead box P3) and Gata3 (GATA binding protein 3), were increased significantly with the treatment of increasing concentration of glucose. On the contrary, with the glucose treatment, the percentages of Th1 and Th17 were reduced, and the gene s of the related cytokines and cytokine receptors, such as interferon-γ, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-22 and IL-23R, and the related transcriptional factors, Tbx21 (T-box transcription factor 21) and RORC (RAR related orphan receptor C), were decreased consistently. Conclusion · Glucose promotes Treg and Th2 differentiation while inhibits Th1 and Th17 differentiation in vitro.

Key words: glucose, CD4+ T cell, regulatory T cell (Treg), Th1 cell, Th17 cell, Th2 cell, in-vitro differentiation