title: Systemic analyses of immunophenotypes of peripheral T cells in non-segmental vitiligo: implication of defective natural killer T cells.
abstract: Although it is widely believed that non-segmental vitiligo (NSV) results from the autoimmune destruction of melanocytes, a clear understanding of defects in immune tolerance, which mediate this uncontrolled self-reactivity, is still lacking. In the present study, we systemically evaluated circulating regulatory T (Treg) cells, including CD4(+) CD25(+) FoxP3(+)  Treg cells and invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, as well as naïve and memory CD4(+)  and CD8(+)  T cells and their cytokine production, in a cohort of 43 progressive NSV patients with race-, gender-, and age-matched healthy controls. We found that the general immunophenotypes of CD4(+)  and CD8(+)  T cells and the percentage of CD4(+) CD25(+) FoxP3(+)  Tregs were comparable between NSV and healthy controls. However, percentages of peripheral iNKT cells were significantly decreased in NSV patients compared to that in healthy controls. Our data confirm the previous notion that the percentage of peripheral CD4(+) CD25(+) FoxP3(+)  Tregs remains unaltered in NSV and suggests the involvement of defective iNKT cells in the pathogenesis of NSV.
authors.affiliation: Henry Ford Immunology Program, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA. lzhou1@hfhs.org
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu-Ling
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Iltefat
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hamzavi
authors.forename: Tian-Wen
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Marsha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Huggins
authors.forename: Oma
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Agbai
authors.forename: Bassel
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mahmoud
authors.forename: Xiaofan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.forename: Henry W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Qing-Sheng
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Mi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping / Q000379:methods*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018448:Models, Immunological; D055611:Natural Killer T-Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D010641:Phenotype; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D014820:Vitiligo / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines