Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Front Immunol. 2020 Jun 26;11:1023. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01023. eCollection 2020.
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a specialized subset of T lymphocytes that function as suppressive immune cells and inhibit various elements of immune response and . While there are constraints on the number or function of Tregs which can be exploited to evoke an effective anti-tumor response, sufficient expansion of Tregs is essential for successful organ transplantation and for promoting tolerance of self and foreign antigens. The immune-suppressive property of Tregs equips this T lymphocyte subpopulation with a pivotal role in the establishment and maintenance of maternal tolerance to fetal alloantigens, which is necessary for successful pregnancy. Elevation in the level of pregnancy-related hormones including estrogen, progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin promotes the recruitment and expansion of Tregs, directly implicating these cells in the regulation of fetal-maternal immune tolerance. Current studies have provided evidence that a defect in the number or function of Tregs contributes to the etiology of several reproductive diseases, such as recurrent spontaneous abortion, endometriosis, and pre-eclampsia. In this review, we provide insight into the underlying mechanism through which Tregs contribute to pregnancy-related immune tolerance and demonstrate the association between deficiencies in Tregs and the development of reproductive diseases.
调节性 T 细胞（Tregs）是 T 淋巴细胞的一个特殊亚群，其功能为抑制性免疫细胞，抑制免疫反应的各个方面。虽然 Tregs 的数量或功能存在限制，可以被利用来引发有效的抗肿瘤反应，但 Tregs 的充分扩增对于成功的器官移植和促进自身和外来抗原的耐受是至关重要的。Tregs 的免疫抑制特性使这种 T 淋巴细胞亚群在建立和维持母体对胎儿同种异体抗原的耐受中发挥关键作用，这是成功妊娠所必需的。包括雌激素、孕激素和人绒毛膜促性腺激素在内的妊娠相关激素水平的升高促进了 Tregs 的募集和扩增，直接表明这些细胞参与了胎儿-母体免疫耐受的调节。目前的研究提供了证据表明，Tregs 的数量或功能缺陷导致了几种生殖疾病的病因，如复发性自然流产、子宫内膜异位症和子痫前期。在这篇综述中，我们深入探讨了 Tregs 促进妊娠相关免疫耐受的潜在机制，并展示了 Tregs 缺陷与生殖疾病发展之间的关联。
