Figure 6. Treatment with tamoxifen increases the frequency of Treg cells in naïve female SJL mice.

Tamoxifen pellets (25 mg) were implanted into 9 female SJL mice and placebo pellets were implanted into 10 female SJL mice one week prior to immunization with PLP 139-151 in CFA. The spleens were harvested from all the mice 3 weeks later and stained with FITC-labeled anti-CD3, PE-Cy3 labeled anti-CTLA-4 antibodies, and PE-labeled CD25. The cells were gated on CD3⁺ lymphocytes and the frequency of CTLA-4⁺/CD25⁺ regulatory cells was determined by flow cytometry. The data are presented as the mean and standard deviation. The differences between tamoxifen and placebo treated mice were determined to be significant in spleen, thymus and lymph node cells as using a Student’s t-test (p<= 0.01).