Recovery of the immune balance between Th17 and regulatory T cells as a treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus

The Th17 lineage, a lineage of effector CD4(+) T cells, is characterized by the production of IL-17. Expansion of Th17 cells has been implicated in a growing list of autoimmune disorders. Our studies, as well as others, have shown that Th17 cells play a key role in the pathogenesis of SLE. Therefore, some investigators advocate that Th17 cells are a promising therapeutic target for SLE. However, neutralization of IL-17 in vivo actually aggravated inflammation by inducing infiltration of other effector cells. Thus, the therapeutic effects of antagonizing Th17 cells for the treatment of SLE in the clinic are worth discussing. Moreover, in patients with SLE, the expansion of effector T cells is always closely related to the depletion and dysfunction of Treg cells. Therefore, we hypothesize that for the treatment of SLE, we should focus on therapeutic agents that can regulate the immune balance between Th17 and Treg cells rather than on those that exclusively regulate Th17 cells.