Effect of Rituximab therapy on the levels of peripheral blood regulatory T cells

Copyright information:Taken from "Clinical and immunological effects of Rituximab in patients with lupus nephritis refractory to conventional therapy: a pilot study"Arthritis Research & Therapy 2006;8(3):R83-R83.Published online 5 May 2006PMCID:PMC1526618. In 17 systemic lupus erythematosus patients that received Rituximab (0.5 to 1.0 g at days 0 and 15), the levels of CD4+CD25and CD4+CTLA-4+ cells, and CD4+ lymphocytes synthesizing TGF-β+ or IL-10 was assessed in peripheral blood by flow cytometry before (day 0), and at days 30 and 90 of Rituximab therapy, as described in Materials and methods. The inset in (a) shows how the expression of CD25 by activated CD8+ cells (left histogram) was employed to define CD4+CD25cells (right histogram). The arithmetic mean is indicated with a horizontal line, and the standard deviation with a vertical line. In all cases, the percentage of positive cells is referred to the gate of lymphocytes, defined by side and forward scatter characteristics.