Regulatory T cells in systemic lupus erythematosus: past, present and future

Table 2 Regulatory T cells in human systemic lupus erythematosus

Regulatory T cell subset	Comment
CD4⁺CD25⁺ cells
Decreased [42–45]
CD4⁺CD25^high cells	Inverse correlation with lupus activity [44, 47, 49, 50, 52]
Decreased [22, 46–52]
Similar to healthy donors [57, 58, 65]
Increase with treatment and disease improvement
Corticosteroids [53]
Plasmapheresis [54]
Rituximab [55, 56]
CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ cells
Decreased [46, 48, 50]	Inverse correlation with disease activity [46, 48, 50]
Similar to healthy donors [57]
Increased [47, 61–63]	Positive correlation with disease activity [47, 61–63]
Suppressive activity in vitro
Decreased [48, 50, 57, 62] (one-third of patients [60])	Decrease largely due to IFNγ released by patient antigen-presenting cells [62]
Not decreased [49]	Decreased due to resistance of systemic lupus erythematosus responder or accessory cells [57]

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