Figure 3. Decreased regulatory T cell function in hyperlipidemic mice.

(A) Shown is the ability of CD4⁺CD25⁺ T cells from ApoE^−/− mice fed a high-fat diet for 4 weeks (blue line) or C57BL/6 controls fed normal chow (red line) to inhibit the proliferation of CD4⁺ cells based on CFSE dilution following stimulation with anti-CD3 and CD28. (B) CD4⁺CD25⁺ cells were isolated from ApoE^−/− mice fed a high-fat diet for 4 weeks or C57BL/6 controls fed normal chow and tested for the ability to inhibit proliferation of CD4⁺ cells stimulated with anti-CD3 and CD28 based on CFSE dilution. Division index is reported. Asterisk indicates p < 0.05. (C) FoxP3⁺CD4⁺CD25^high cells were isolated from hCD2-FoxP3 mice on a C57BL/6 background that were fed a high-fat diet or normal chow and tested for the ability to inhibit proliferation of CD4⁺ cells stimulated with anti-CD3 and CD28 based on CFSE dilution. For panels B and C, division index is reported. Asterisk indicates p < 0.05. Shown is one representative experiment of three, with standard error. ApoE, apolipoproteinE; CFSE, carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester; FoxP3, forkhead box P3; HFD, high-fat diet; TC, total cholesterol; Treg, regulatory T cell.