title: Reduced Foxp3 expression with increased cytomegalovirus-specific CTL in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy.
abstract: Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) patients show high immune responses to HTLV-I. However, it is unclear whether the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses to other chronic viruses also increase. We investigated the responses in the peripheral blood by using HLA-A*0201/peptide pentamers. The frequency of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific CTL tended to be higher in HAM/TSP patients than in healthy controls (HCs). The frequency of CMV-specific CTL positively correlated with that of HTLV-I Tax-specific CTL. The frequency of Foxp3+ cells in CD4+ lymphocytes tended to be higher in HAM/TSP patients than in ACs and HCs. The expression level of Foxp3 was lower in HAM/TSP patients than in HCs and was inversely correlated with the CMV-specific CTL frequency. A percentage of Foxp3+ cells showed a positive correlation with the HTLV-I proviral load. These results suggest that a decrease in the Foxp3 expression may contribute to the high immune response to CMV and that the Foxp3+ regulatory T cells may play a role in the immune surveillance of HTLV-I.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Geriatrics, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takenouchi
authors.forename: Yuetsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Ryuki
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osame
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Izumo
authors.forename: Kimiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arimura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D006680:HLA Antigens; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes