Furthermore, recent studies have found that Tregs (CD25/Foxp3 double-positive cells) may lose Foxp3 expression and convert to exFoxP3 Th17 cells in periodontitis, and decreased Tregs activity reduces the synthesis of TGF-β and IL-10, while these exFoxp3 Th17 cells express high levels of RANKL and IL-17; in contrast, when antibiotics were used to reduce the conversion of Treg cells, the Th17/Treg cell imbalance in periodontitis in mice was significantly inhibited and RANKL expression was suppressed, resulting in improved bone resorption (Deng et al., 2021). This evidence concerns the gene IL2RA and periodontitis.