Figure 3.

Flow cytometry results for immunophenotyping T-cell subsets and frequency of T-cell clones in the peripheral blood. (A) T-cell immunophenotyping included Tregs as defined by CD4⁺CD25⁺CD127low/⁻CCR4⁺; cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) as defined by CD8⁺; TH2 as defined by CD4⁺ CXCR3-CCR6-CCR4⁺; TH17 as defined by CD4⁺CXCR3-CCR6⁺CCR4⁺; T follicular helper (Tfh) CD4⁺CD45RA-CXCR3-CXCR5⁺; as well as for plasmablasts CD19⁺CD20-IgD-CD27⁺CD38hi. Activated and dividing CD4⁺ are defined by HLA-Dr and Ki67 expressions, respectively. (B) The frequency of T-cell clones per 100 000 clones is shown relative to baseline during the treatment course. P values were calculated for (A) and (B) using the paired t test (GraphPad Prism) and post hoc Dunn test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction, respectively.