title: High frequency of CD4+ CD25- CD69+ T cells is correlated with a low risk of acute graft-versus-host disease in allotransplants.
abstract: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) maintain transplantation tolerance and suppress graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in humans. We monitored 17 subjects with acute GvHD to determine whether Treg frequency correlates with acute GvHD. We found the percent of CD4(+) CD25(-) CD69(+)  Tregs decreases when acute GvHD develops and increases after acute GvHD is controlled. We next sequentially studied 50 subjects receiving conventional allotransplants. We show a high frequency and increased numbers of CD4(+) CD25(-) CD69(+)  Tregs are associated with a reduced risk of acute GvHD. We also show that CD4(+) CD25(-) CD69(+)  Treg numbers increase substantially early after allografts and that a low percent of CD4(+) CD25(-) CD69(+)  Tregs is associated with an increased risk of acute GvHD. Reconstitution of Tregs early post-transplant is associated with less acute GvHD. These data imply that CD4(+) CD25(-) CD69(+)  Tregs are a novel subset of regulatory T cells that may protect against acute GvHD after allotransplants.
authors.affiliation: Peking University People's Hospital & Peking, University Institute of Hematology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Sheng-Ye
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Xiao-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Kai-Yan
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dai-Hong
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lan-Ping
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006648:Histocompatibility; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult