Table 1.
Baseline characteristics and disease parameters of the SLE patients*.
Table 2.
Baseline characteristics, disease parameters and treatment of the SLE patients.
Table 3.
Evolution of FoxP3+ T cell subsets and disease activity in SLE patients following high dose methylprednisolone.
Fig 1.
Cytofluorometric analysis of CD4+FoxP3+ T cell subsets following IV methylprednisolone pulses in SLE patients.
Fresh PBMCs from SLE patients were analyzed by flow cytofluorometry, gated on CD4+ T lymphocytes, for the expression of FoxP3 and CD45RA (top rows) and Ki-67 (bottom rows). FoxP3+CD4+ T cells can be divided into CD4+CD45RA−FoxP3bright effector Tregs (eTregs) and CD4+CD45RA+FoxP3+ naïve Tregs (nTregs), while the remaining CD4+CD45RA−FoxP3low include a notable amount of non-regulatory, cytokine-secreting, activated T cells (non-regulatory FoxP3+ T cells) [8]. FoxP3highKi-67+ (right gate), which correspond to the eTregs, and FoxP3−Ki-67+ (left gate), which correspond to non-regulatory T-cells, are shown on the lower FACS panel. Percentages of the different subsets are shown. Representative analyses from one SLE patient are shown (pt #3).
Fig 2.
Frequencies of CD4+FoxP3+ T cell subsets following IV methylprednisolone pulses in SLE patients.
Fresh PBMCs from SLE patients were analyzed by flow cytofluorometry as described in Fig 1. Kinetics of (A) effector Tregs, (B) naïve Tregs and (C) non-regulatory FoxP3+ T cells were performed in patients with active SLE undergoing IV high dose MP pulse treatment at baseline. Seventeen patients at baseline and day 2, 8 patients at day 3 and 6 patients at day 8 were assessed. (A) Right panel, eTreg cells frequencies at day 3 are displayed (except for two patients for whom these data are missing; eTreg cells frequencies at day 2 are shown instead). Each dot represents an individual assessed in an independent experiment, and the grey bar shows median values. Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon matched pairs signed ranks test.
Fig 3.
Frequencies of eTreg cells in SLE patients according to their clinical response following IV methylprednisolone pulses.
(A) Evolution of the SELENA-SLEDAI score at baseline, month 3, 6 and 12 following IV MP pulses according to the responder status of the patients defined after 12 months of follow-up. (B) Effector Treg frequencies at day 0 (baseline) and day 2 and the ratio of effector Tregs between day 2 and day 0 in poor and good responders after 12 months of follow-up. (A-B) Each dot represents an individual and lines show median values. Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon matched pairs signed ranks test (A) and the Mann-Whitney U test (B).