Table 1.
Impact of B cell depletion therapy on Effector and Regulatory T cells (humans)
| Disease (Human or Mouse) |
Treatment protocol |
AutoAb titres |
T cell activation |
T cell prolifera- tion |
T cell and systemic cytokines |
Regulatory T cells |
Effect on disease |
Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pemphigus vulgaris (human) | Rituximab | Decreased in all patients | ND | ND | Decreased in responder patients | ND | 8/11 patients complete remission | 28 |
| idiopathic thrombocy-topenic purpura (human) | Rituximab | ND | ND | Altered T cell repertoire | Altered Th1/Th2 ratio | ND | Reduced in ~50% of patients | 29 |
| mixed cryoglobuli-nemia vasculitis (human) | Rituximab | Decreased | DecreasedHLA-DR+ CD8+ T cells | ND | Decreased systemic IL-12 and IFNγ | Increased FOXP3+ CD25+ CD4+ T cells | Complete remission in 14/21 of patients | 36 |
| SLE (human) | Rituximab | No effect on anti-dsDNA | Decreased CD40L+ CD4+ T cells | ND | ND | Increased FOXP3, GITR, CTLA4, CD25 and TGFβ1 mRNA in PBL | 80% with complete or partial remission | 31, 32 |
| SLE (human) | Rituximab | anti-dsDNA and anti-ANA titres decreased in some patients | Decreased CD69+ CD4 T cells | ND | Altered Th1/Th2 ratio | ND | Remission in 8/9 patients | 96 |
| SLE (human) | Rituximab | decreased anti-dsDNA no change in anti-Ro or anti-La | Increased CD25+ CD4+ T cells | ND | ND | Increased CD25bright Foxp3+ CD4+ T cells | Improvement in 100% of patients | 34 |
| SLE (human) | Rituximab | decreased anti-dsDNA, anti-ANA and anti-phospholipid Abs in subset of patients | ND | Increased apoptosis | ND | Increased CD25bright and TGFβ1+ CD4+ T cells Increased suppressor activity in vitro | Disease remission in 90% of patients | 33 |