Figure 1. CD4+ T cells and CD4+Foxp3+ T cells accumulate in parallel after VZV challenge in the skin.
Healthy young volunteers were injected with 0.02ml VZV skin antigen test and 5mm punch biopsies were performed on days 0, 1, 3 or 7 post injection (with 4–7 volunteers per time point). (A) 6µm frozen skin sections were stained for CD4 (green) and Foxp3 (red) using an indirect immunofluorescence method (original magnification: x400). Cell numbers were expressed as the mean absolute number of cells counted within the frame. Graph shows numbers of total CD4+ cells (white squares) and numbers of CD4+Foxp3+ cells (black squares) in perivascular infiltrates (PV) following VZV skin antigen injection. (B) Graph shows the proportion of total CD4+ cells expressing Foxp3 in perivascular infiltrates before and after VZV challenge. Each symbol represents a mean of n=4–7 individuals per time point; average of 5 perivascular infiltrates counted for each individual. (C) The number of infiltrating CD4+ T cells in the skin correlates with clinical response (linear regression analysis, p<0.0001).