Table 3.

Regulatory T cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus before and after royal jelly supplementation and the controls

	SLE patients before RJ supplementation (20)	SLE patients after RJ supplementation (20)	Controls (20)	pa	pb	pc
CD4+ regulatory T cells	1.32±0.25	1.74±0.28	2.24±0.52	<0.001	0.001	0.001
CD8+ regulatory T cells	0.93±0.37	1.58±0.84	2.01±0.98	<0.001	0.003	NS
MFI of FOXP3+ expression in CD4+CD25+High	102.98±6.94	118.16±29.96	149.72±19.3	<0.001	0.032	0.001
MFI of FOXP3+ expression in CD8+CD25+High	96.85±12.51	113.09±14.49	116.98±33.54	0.016	0.01	NS

Data are represented as means±SD. P≤0.05 is significant.

FOXP3, forkhead box protein 3; MFI, mean of fluorescence intensity; NS, not significant; RJ, royal jelly; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus;

^aSLE patients before RJ supplementation versus controls (Mann–Whitney U-test)

^bSLE patients before RJ supplementation versus SLE patients after RJ supplementation (Wilcoxon test)

^cSLE patients after RJ supplementation versus controls (Mann–Whitney U-test).