Impaired suppression of synovial fluid CD4+CD25- T cells from patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis by CD4+CD25+ Treg cells

Susanne Haufe, Markus Haug, Carsten Schepp, Jasmin Kuemmerle-Deschner, Sandra Hansmann, Nikolaus Rieber, Nikolay Tzaribachev, Toni Hospach, Jan Maier, Guenther E. Dannecker, Ursula Holzer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective Natural CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg cells play a crucial role in maintaining immune homeostasis and controlling autoimmunity. In patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), inflammation occurs despite the increased total numbers of Treg cells in the synovial fluid (SF) compared to the peripheral blood (PB). This study was undertaken to investigate the phenotype of CD4+ T cells in PB and SF from JIA patients, the function of synovial Treg cells, and the sensitivity of PB and SF CD4+CD25- effector T cells to the immunoregulatory properties of Treg cells, and to study the suppression of cytokine secretion from SF effector T cells by Treg cells. Methods The phenotypes of effector T cells and Treg cells of PB and SF from JIA patients and healthy donors were determined by flow cytometry. The functionality of isolated Treg cells and effector T cells was quantified in 3H-thymidine proliferation assays. Cytokine levels were analyzed using Bio-Plex Pro assay. Results Compared to PB, SF showed significantly elevated numbers of activated and differentiated CD4+CD45RO+ T cells. Sensitivity of SF effector T cells to the suppressive effects of Treg cells from both PB and SF was impaired, correlating inversely with the expression of CD69 and HLA-DR. However, SF effector T cell cytokine secretion was partly suppressed by SF Treg cells. Conclusion Our findings indicate that regulation is impaired in the SF of patients with JIA, as shown by the resistance of effector T cells to immunoregulation by functional Treg cells. This resistance of the SF effector T cells might be due to their activated phenotype.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3153-3162
Number of pages10
JournalArthritis and Rheumatism
Volume63
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2011
Externally publishedYes

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