Decreased circulating follicular regulatory T cells in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

Figures

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  Figure 1. Decreased frequency of circulating CD4+CD25+CXCR5+CD127-/lo Tfr in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). A, Representative FACS images of the frequency of CD4+CD25+CXCR5+CD127-/lo Tfr and CD4+CXCR5+CD127+ Tfh from a single patient in each group: (a1) the lymphocytes were first gated; (a2) the CD4+ T cells were gated; (a3) the expression of CXCR5+ was analyzed in the gated CD4+ T cells, and (a4, a5) the expression of CD25+CD127-/lo was analyzed in the gated CD4+CXCR5+ T cells. B-D, the percentages of CD4+CD25+CXCR5+CD127-/lo Tfr in CD4+ T cells and CD4+CXCR5+CD127+ Tfh in CD4+ T cells, and the ratio of Tfr/Tfh in DCM patients. Data are reported as means±SE. All were compared with healthy controls by the t-test. E, Tfr rate decreased with the increase of heart failure grade (ANOVA). NYHA: New York Heart Association (grades II/III/IV).

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  Figure 2. Pearson correlation of follicular regulatory T cells (Tfr) frequency, follicular helper T cells (Tfh) frequency, and indices of cardiac function in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients. The frequency of CD4+CD25+CXCR5+CD127-/lo Tfr was negatively correlated with NT-proBNP (A) and positively correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (B) in DCM patients. The frequencies of CD4+CXCR5+CD127+ Tfh were positively correlated with NT-proBNP (C) and negatively correlated with LVEF (D) in DCM patients.

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  Figure 3. The mRNA expression levels of important molecules in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients and controls: Foxp3 (A), Bcl-6 (B), ICOS (C), and PD-1 (D). Data are reported as means±SE (n=12). *P<0.05, **P<0.01 compared to the Control group (t-test).

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  Figure 4. The levels of interleukin (IL)-6 (A, n=16), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (B, n=30), IL-21 (C, n=30), and IL-10 (D, n=30) in plasma of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and healthy controls. Data are reported as means±SE. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 compared to the Control group (t-test).

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  Figure 5. Correlation analysis between Tfr and Tfh cells rates and Tfr/Tfh with the level of cytokines in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients. Tfr cell rate was negatively correlated with interleukin (IL)-6 (A, n=16), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (D, n=30), and IL-21 (G, n=30). Tfh cell rate was positively correlated with IL-6 (B, n=16), TNF-α (E, n=30), and IL-21 (H, n=30). Meanwhile, Tfr/Tfh was negatively correlated with IL-6 (C, n=16), TNF-α (F, n=30), and IL-21 (I, n=30).

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  Figure 6. Plasma levels of IgG (A) and IgG3 (B) in healthy controls and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients. Pearson correlation analysis of Tfr frequency, Tfh frequency, and plasma IgG and IgG3 expression levels in DCM patients. The frequency of CD4+CD25+CXCR5+CD127-/lo Tfr was negatively correlated with IgG (C) and IgG3 (D), while the frequency of CD4+CXCR5+CD127+ Tfh was positively correlated with IgG (E) and IgG3 (F).