title: Flow cytometric immunophenotyping of regulatory T cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: comparative assessment of various markers and use of novel antibody panel with CD127 as alternative to transcription factor FoxP3.
abstract: This study analyzed the frequency of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) by multiparameter flow cytometric immunophenotyping. Patients showed significantly increased frequencies of Tregs as compared to controls, a significantly higher percentage than that identified by previous studies, possibly indicating a different prognosis of CLL in different parts of the world and, more precisely, a worse prognosis of CLL in the Indian population. A higher frequency of Tregs was also seen in advanced stage of disease with significantly reduced frequencies of Tregs in patients with CLL after chemotherapy. A significant proportion of CD127low/-FoxP3+ Tregs expressed only low levels of CD25. Thus, CD127 appears to be a better marker than CD25 for the identification of CD4+FoxP3+ T cells as potential Tregs. Our results suggest that the specificity and sensitivity of CD4+CD127low/- cells are comparable to those of CD4+FoxP3+, which is the gold standard, and can be used as an alternative. This novel flow cytometric antibody panel with fewer number of antibodies is cost-effective and can be used to enumerate Tregs in resource-limited settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. alakanandadasgupta@gmail.com
authors.forename: Alakananda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.forename: Manoranjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahapatra
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saxena
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism; D053699:Interleukin-7 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D015704:CD4 Antigens; C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit; D053699:Interleukin-7 Receptor alpha Subunit