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The involvement of T regulatory lymphocytes in a cohort of lupus nephritis patients: a pilot study

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Abstract

T regulator lymphocytes (Tregs) play a key role in the maintenance of immune tolerance and in the development of autoimmune diseases. Expression of Foxp3 is specific for Tregs, and can be used for the identification of these cells. This study investigated the variations of Tregs Foxp3+ in the kidney biopsies inflammatory infiltrate of different lupus nephritis classes compared to that of ANCA glomerulonephritis, acute tubulointerstitial nephritis and nephroangiosclerosis. Sections of paraffin-embedded tissue have been stained by immunohistochemistry with anti-CD3 and anti-FoxP3 antibodies. We find that the ratio of FoxP3+/CD3+ cells is significantly lower in patients with lupus nephritis class IV and in patients with vasculitides than in the course of nephroangiosclerosis, tubulointerstitial nephritis and lupus nephritis class V. The data presented herein demonstrate a decrease of FoxP3+ Treg cells in the inflammatory infiltrate of lupus nephritis, particularly during the most active phases of lupus nephritis, as observed in the course of a IV class nephritis.

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Statement of human and animal rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the author.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Medicine and Rheumatology, Integrated Research Center, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy

    Antonella Afeltra & Domenico Paolo Emanuele Margiotta

  2. Department of Clinical Medicine, Sapienza, University of Rome, Viale dell’Università, 37 00185, Rome, Italy

    Antonietta Gigante, Marta Liberatori, Antonio Amoroso & Filippo Rossi Fanelli

  3. Pathology, Integrated Research Center, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy

    Chiara Taffon

  4. Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology Unit, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Rosario Cianci & Biagio Barbano

Authors
  1. Antonella Afeltra
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  2. Antonietta Gigante
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  3. Domenico Paolo Emanuele Margiotta
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  4. Chiara Taffon
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  5. Rosario Cianci
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  6. Biagio Barbano
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  7. Marta Liberatori
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  8. Antonio Amoroso
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  9. Filippo Rossi Fanelli
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Correspondence to Antonietta Gigante.

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Afeltra, A., Gigante, A., Margiotta, D.P.E. et al. The involvement of T regulatory lymphocytes in a cohort of lupus nephritis patients: a pilot study. Intern Emerg Med 10, 677–683 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-015-1212-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-015-1212-x

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