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Chinese Journal of Experimental and Clinical Infectious Diseases(Electronic Edition) ›› 2026, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (03): 155-166. doi: 10.3877/cma.j.issn.1674-1358.2026.03.004

• Research Article • Previous Articles    

Correlation between the expression levels of chemokine CXC chemokine receptor 3, the ligands and clinical characteristics and lesion severity of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Mei Liu1, Yonghui Yang2, Guiyun Zhu1, Weili Ma3, Yunxiao Han4,()   

  1. 1 Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hebei Chest Hospital, Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Pulmonary Diseases, Shijiazhuang 050000, China
    2 Party and Government Comprehensive Office of Hebei Provincial Children’s Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050000, China
    3 Department of Pathology, Hebei Chest Hospital, Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Pulmonary Diseases, Shijiazhuang 050000, China
    4 Department of Blood Transfusion, Hebei Chest Hospital, Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Pulmonary Diseases, Shijiazhuang 050000, China
  • Received:2025-06-27 Online:2026-06-15 Published:2026-08-28
  • Contact: Yunxiao Han

Abstract:

Objective

To investigate the correlation between the expression levels of CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3), the ligands (CXCL10, CXCL11) and the clinical characteristics and disease severity of patients with tuberculosis.

Methods

Clinical data from 81 tuberculosis patients treated in Hebei Chest Hospital between December 2022 and October 2023 were collected and baseline characteristics among tuberculosis patients with different disease severities were compared; the correlation between the positive expression rates of chemokine CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11 and tuberculosis lesion severity were analyzed by a generalized mixed-effects model; the associations between immune microenvironment indicators and the positive expression rates of chemokine CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11 were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis; the predictive accuracy of the positive expression rates of chemokine CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11 for tuberculosis lesion severity were evaluated; the predictive performance of these chemokine expression rates were assessed by DeLong test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.

Results

Among the 81 pulmonary tuberculosis patients, 52 cases were male and 29 cases were female, with a mean age of (42.95±6.83) years old. Tuberculosis patients with a history of smoking, no BCG vaccination and poor ventilation showed significantly higher positive expression rates of CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11 (all P<0.05). The tuberculosis patients with B cells<16%, CD4+ T lymphocytes<30%, CD8+ T lymphocytes<31%, natural killer (NK) cells<15% and macrophages≥66% showed significantly elevated positive expression rates of CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11 (all P<0.05). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that smoking history had a significantly positive impact on the positive expression rates of CXCR3 (t=1.574, P=0.002), CXCL10 (t=1.638, P=0.015) and CXCL11 (t=3.175, P=0.025) of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. BCG vaccination history and poor ventilation had significantly negative effects on the positive expression rates of CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11, with significant differences (BCG vaccination history: t=-0.809, P=0.008; t=-1.975, P=0.019; t=-4.546, P=0.022; poor ventilation: t=-1.503, P=0.015; t=-1.335, P=0.007; t=-2.324, P=0.008). As the severity of pulmonary tuberculosis progressed, smoking history (χ2=31.867, P<0.001), ventilation condition (χ2=15.178, P=0.001), macrophage ratio (F=9.921, P<0.001), CXCR3 positivity (χ2=18.277, P<0.001), CXCL10 positivity (χ2=15.178, P=0.001) and CXCL11 positivity (χ2=19.708, P<0.001) increased gradually among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. BCG vaccination history (χ2=15.178, P=0.001), B cells (F=10.947, P<0.001), CD4+ T lymphocytes (F=11.471, P<0.001), CD8+ T lymphocytes (F=10.911, P<0.001) and NK cells (F=11.124, P<0.001) levels decreased gradually, with significant differences. The results of the generalized linear mixed-effects model analysis showed that compared with patients who were negative for CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11, the risk of mild lesion severity of patients with positive CXCR3, positive CXCL10 and positive CXCL11 in pulmonary tuberculosis were 2.125, 2.080 and 2.153, respectively; OR for moderate lesion severity were 2.723, 3.294 and 1.934, respectively; and OR for severe lesion severity were 2.832, 2.501 and 2.271, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis results showed that B cells, CD4+ T lymphocytes, CD8+ T lymphocytes and NK cells were significantly and negatively correlated with the positive expression rates of CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11 (all P<0.001), while macrophages were significantly and positively correlated with the positive expression rates of CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11 (r=0.463, 0.489, 0.677, all P<0.001). The prediction of three combined indicators for the severity of pulmonary tuberculosis lesions (moderate-severe and severe) had a significantly higher accuracy rate than any single indicator alone (all P<0.05). The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off values for combined prediction on the severity of pulmonary tuberculosis lesions as moderate-severe or severe were 82.75% and 95.71%, respectively. DeLong test indicated that the combined prediction of three factors had a higher efficacy (AUC) than individual factor (all P<0.05).

Conclusions

The positive expression rates of CXCR3, CXCL10 and CXCL11 are closely related to the clinical characteristics and lesion severity of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, which may be involved in local immune regulation of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Key words: Pulmonary tuberculosis, CXC chemokine, Clinical features, Degree of lesion

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