Correlation between circulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells and Th17 cells in esophageal cancer

Figure 1 Elevated levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and their products, arginase 1 and inducible NO synthase, in esophageal cancer compared with healthy controls. A: Flow cytometric analysis of MDSCs in the peripheral blood from ECA patients and healthy control (HC); B: Plasma arginase 1 (Arg1) level was determined by ELISA; C: The mRNA level of iNOS in the peripheral blood from ECA patients and HC were assessed by real-time PCR; D: Representative flow diagrams of a healthy volunteer with marked elevation of circulating MDSCs; E: Representative flow diagrams of an ECA patient with marked elevation of circulating MDSCs are shown. Data were analyzed by the Student’s t-test. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs HC group. ECA: Esophageal cancer; MDSCs: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells; ELISA: Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; iNOS: Inducible NO synthase; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction; FITC: Fluorescein isothiocyanate; FSC: Forward scatter; HLA-DR-PE: HLA-DR-phycoerythrin; APC: Allophycocyanin.