Peak inflammation in atherosclerosis, primary biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune arthritis is counter-intuitively associated with regulatory T cell enrichment.

ABSTRACT: Regulatory T cells (Treg) influence the development of autoimmunity and their use is increasingly proposed for clinical applications. The well-characterized suppressive potential of Treg frequently leads to the assumption that Treg presence in prevailing numbers is indicative of immunosuppression. We hypothesized that this assumption may be false. We examined models of three different diseases caused by organ-specific autoimmune responses: primary biliary cirrhosis, atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We examined indicators of relative abundance of Treg compared to pro-inflammatory T cells, during peak inflammation. In all cases, the results were compatible with a relative enrichment of Treg at the site of inflammation or its most proximal draining lymph node. Conversely, in hea

SUBMITTER: Garetto S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4457006 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature