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- Title
Depletion of CD4<sup>+</sup>CD25<sup>+</sup>CD127<sup>lo</sup> regulatory T cells does not increase allergen-driven T cell activation.
- Authors
Skrindo, I.; Farkas, L.; Kvale, E. O.; Johansen, F.-E.; Jahnsen, F. L.
- Abstract
Background It has been suggested that allergic diseases are caused by defective suppression of allergen-specific Th2 cells by CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells. However, such studies have been hampered by the difficulty in distinguishing regulatory T cells from CD25-expressing activated T cells. Recently, it was shown that conventional T cells expressed high levels of CD127, whereas regulatory T cells were CD127lo, allowing discrimination between these distinct T cell subpopulations. Objective The aim of this study was to study whether the putative regulatory subset defined as CD4+CD25+CD127lo was involved in grass pollen-reactive T cell responses. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from allergic donors and non-atopic controls out of season. Grass pollen-induced cytokine production and proliferation were compared in cultures of undepleted cells and cells depleted of CD4+CD25+, CD4+CD25+CD127hi or CD4+CD25+CD127lo T cells. Results Undepleted cell cultures from allergic patients showed significantly increased proliferation and Th2 cytokine production compared with non-atopic controls. Depletion of all CD25+ T cells did not increase cytokine production or proliferation, and more importantly, no increase in Th2 cytokine production or proliferation was observed in cell cultures depleted of CD4+CD25+CD127lo cells (putative regulatory T cells) compared with undepleted PBMCs in both the allergic and the non-atopic group. Conclusion Our study showed that T cells from grass pollen-allergic patients and non-atopic controls responded very differently to grass pollen extract, but this difference could not be explained by differences in regulatory T cell function. Further studies are needed to understand the importance of regulatory T cells in allergy.
- Publication
Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 2008, Vol 38, Issue 11, p1752
- ISSN
0954-7894
- Publication type
Academic Journal
- DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2222.2008.03081.x