Meloni Federica, Vitulo Patrizio, Bianco Alessia Marone, Paschetto Enrica, Morosini Monica, Cascina Alessandro, Mazzucchelli Iolanda, Ciardelli Laura, Oggionni Tiberio, Fietta Anna Maria, Pozzi Ernesto, Viganò Mario
Department of General Surgery and Organ Transplantation, University of Pavia and IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
Transplantation. 2004 Mar 15;77(5):762-6. doi: 10.1097/01.tp.0000116565.86752.6b.
The subset of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells, recently identified in humans, may play a central role in the regulation of immune tolerance to graft survival.
This study assesses the frequency and functional profile of CD4+CD25+CD69- cells in the peripheral blood of lung transplant recipients (>3 years from transplantation), 10 of whom were in a stable clinical condition and 11 of whom demonstrated chronic rejection (bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome). We also studied a group of seven healthy subjects.
The frequency of CD4+ T cells expressing CD25 (CD4+CD25+) and the highest levels (CD25) were lower in patients with bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome compared with healthy subjects and subjects in a stable clinical condition (P < or = 0.01). Purified CD4+CD25+ cells exhibited a regulatory functional profile in vitro: they were hyporesponsive, suppressed the proliferation of CD4+CD25- cells, and produced interleukin-10.
These results provide in vivo evidence that peripheral CD4+CD25+ T cells may represent an important regulatory subset in lung transplantation.
