Journal
BLOOD
Volume 107, Issue 4, Pages 1717-1723Publisher
AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY
DOI: 10.1182/blood-2005-06-2529
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) control immune responses to self- and foreign antigens and play a pivotal role in autoimmune diseases, infectious and noninfectious inflammation, and graft rejection. Since recent experimental studies have indicated that Tregs were able to ameliorate graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), we analyzed the number of infiltrating Tregs in the intestinal mucosa as one site of GvH reactivity using immunoenzymatic labeling to enumerate FOXP3(+) T cells in 95 intestinal biopsies from 49 allografted patients in comparison with healthy controls and patients with infectious inflammation. While patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV)-colitis or diverticulitis showed a concomitant increase of CD8(+) effectors and Tregs, acute and chronic GvHD were characterized by the complete lack of a counter-regulation indicated by a FOXP3(+)/CDO+ T-cell ratio identical to healthy controls. In contrast, specimens without histologic signs of GvHD demonstrated increased numbers of FOXP3(+) per CD8(+) T cells, indicating that the potential for Treg expansion is principally maintained in allografted patients. Our findings provide evidence that GvHD is associated with an insufficient up-regulation of Tregs in intestinal GvHD lesions. The determination of FOXP3(+)/CD8(+) ratio can be a helpful tool to discriminate GvHD from infectious inflammation after allogenenic stem cell transplantation.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available