Decreased Circulating T Regulatory Cells in Egyptian Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo: Correlation with Disease Activity

Background. Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentary skin disorder resulting from autoimmune destruction of melanocytes. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), specifically CD4+CD25+ and Forkhead box P3+ (FoxP3+) Tregs, acquired notable attention because of their role in a variety of autoimmune pathologies. Dysreg...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Doaa Salah Hegab, Mohamed Attia Saad Attia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-01-01
Series:Dermatology Research and Practice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/145409
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832548082141626368
author Doaa Salah Hegab
Mohamed Attia Saad Attia
author_facet Doaa Salah Hegab
Mohamed Attia Saad Attia
author_sort Doaa Salah Hegab
collection DOAJ
description Background. Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentary skin disorder resulting from autoimmune destruction of melanocytes. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), specifically CD4+CD25+ and Forkhead box P3+ (FoxP3+) Tregs, acquired notable attention because of their role in a variety of autoimmune pathologies. Dysregulation of Tregs may be one of the factors that can break tolerance to melanocyte self-antigens and contribute to vitiligo pathogenesis. Methods. In order to sustain the role of Tregs in pathogenesis and disease activity of vitiligo, surface markers for CD4+CD25+ and FoxP3+ peripheral Tregs were evaluated by flow cytometry in 80 Egyptian patients with nonsegmental vitiligo in addition to 60 healthy control subjects and correlated with clinical findings. Results. Vitiligo patients had significantly decreased numbers of both peripheral CD4+CD25+ and FoxP3+ T cells compared to control subjects (11.49%  ± 8.58% of CD4+ T cells versus 21.20%  ± 3.08%, and 1.09%  ± 0.96% versus 1.44%  ± 0.24%, resp., P<0.05 for both). Peripheral numbers of CD4+CD25+ and FoxP3+ Tregs correlated negatively with VIDA score. Conclusion. Treg depletion with impaired immune downregulatory function might play a key role in the autoimmune conditions beyond nonsegmental vitiligo particularly in active cases. Effective Treg cell-based immunotherapies might be a future hope for patients with progressive vitiligo.
format Article
id doaj-art-bc47290fa4874ea8bea6a434383042fc
institution Kabale University
issn 1687-6105
1687-6113
language English
publishDate 2015-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Dermatology Research and Practice
spelling doaj-art-bc47290fa4874ea8bea6a434383042fc2025-02-03T06:42:25ZengWileyDermatology Research and Practice1687-61051687-61132015-01-01201510.1155/2015/145409145409Decreased Circulating T Regulatory Cells in Egyptian Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo: Correlation with Disease ActivityDoaa Salah Hegab0Mohamed Attia Saad Attia1Faculty of Medicine, Dermatology and Venereology Department, Tanta University Hospitals, El Geish Street, Tanta 31111, EgyptFaculty of Medicine, Clinical Pathology Department, Tanta University Hospitals, El Geish Street, Tanta 31111, EgyptBackground. Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentary skin disorder resulting from autoimmune destruction of melanocytes. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), specifically CD4+CD25+ and Forkhead box P3+ (FoxP3+) Tregs, acquired notable attention because of their role in a variety of autoimmune pathologies. Dysregulation of Tregs may be one of the factors that can break tolerance to melanocyte self-antigens and contribute to vitiligo pathogenesis. Methods. In order to sustain the role of Tregs in pathogenesis and disease activity of vitiligo, surface markers for CD4+CD25+ and FoxP3+ peripheral Tregs were evaluated by flow cytometry in 80 Egyptian patients with nonsegmental vitiligo in addition to 60 healthy control subjects and correlated with clinical findings. Results. Vitiligo patients had significantly decreased numbers of both peripheral CD4+CD25+ and FoxP3+ T cells compared to control subjects (11.49%  ± 8.58% of CD4+ T cells versus 21.20%  ± 3.08%, and 1.09%  ± 0.96% versus 1.44%  ± 0.24%, resp., P<0.05 for both). Peripheral numbers of CD4+CD25+ and FoxP3+ Tregs correlated negatively with VIDA score. Conclusion. Treg depletion with impaired immune downregulatory function might play a key role in the autoimmune conditions beyond nonsegmental vitiligo particularly in active cases. Effective Treg cell-based immunotherapies might be a future hope for patients with progressive vitiligo.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/145409
spellingShingle Doaa Salah Hegab
Mohamed Attia Saad Attia
Decreased Circulating T Regulatory Cells in Egyptian Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo: Correlation with Disease Activity
Dermatology Research and Practice
title Decreased Circulating T Regulatory Cells in Egyptian Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo: Correlation with Disease Activity
title_full Decreased Circulating T Regulatory Cells in Egyptian Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo: Correlation with Disease Activity
title_fullStr Decreased Circulating T Regulatory Cells in Egyptian Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo: Correlation with Disease Activity
title_full_unstemmed Decreased Circulating T Regulatory Cells in Egyptian Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo: Correlation with Disease Activity
title_short Decreased Circulating T Regulatory Cells in Egyptian Patients with Nonsegmental Vitiligo: Correlation with Disease Activity
title_sort decreased circulating t regulatory cells in egyptian patients with nonsegmental vitiligo correlation with disease activity
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/145409
work_keys_str_mv AT doaasalahhegab decreasedcirculatingtregulatorycellsinegyptianpatientswithnonsegmentalvitiligocorrelationwithdiseaseactivity
AT mohamedattiasaadattia decreasedcirculatingtregulatorycellsinegyptianpatientswithnonsegmentalvitiligocorrelationwithdiseaseactivity