Fig. 1.

SIRT1 is down-regulated in CD4⁺ T cells of patients with neuropathic pain. a T cells obtained from patients with neuropathic pain were characterized by surface staining with monoclonal antibodies specific for anti-human CD4, CD25, and CD127 and intracellular staining with an anti-human Foxp3 antibody followed by flow cytometric analysis. The Foxp3/CD4⁺ ratio found in neuropathic pain patients (NeP, n = 11) and in healthy controls (control, n = 9) is shown. b Total RNA was extracted from purified CD4⁺ T cells of patients with neuropathic pain (NeP, n = 11) as well as from CD4⁺ T cells of healthy volunteers (control, n = 9). Relative expression of SIRT1 was quantified by quantitative PCR (qPCR) using SDHA and TBP as reference genes. The results indicate fold reduction of SIRT1 in patients with neuropathic pain vs. healthy volunteers. Data are given as means ± SD; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01