Figure 7.
Oral contraception has minor effects on CD45RA/CCR7 memory phenotype marker expression in CD4+ Tconv cells and CD8+ T cells. Peripheral blood drawn at early-, mid-, and late-cycle stages from naturally cycling women (N), women using oral contraception (OC), and men was analyzed by flow cytometry to assess CD45RA and CCR7 expression in CD4+FOXP3− Tconv cells and CD8+ T cells, allowing classification of cells into naïve (CD45RA+CCR7+), central memory (CM, CD45RA−CCR7+), effector memory (EM; CD45RA-CCR7−), or terminally differentiated effector memory (EMRA; CD45RA+CCR7−) subsets. Panels show the relative proportion of naïve, CM, EM, and EMRA cells among Tconv cells (A) and CD8+ T cells (B). Data are shown by group as estimated marginal means calculated by linear mixed model analysis (Model 1, all participants). The effects of participant group were analyzed by Chi-square analysis. Additional data showing individual subsets are provided in Supplemental Figures 2 and 3 (44). a,b,cDifferent superscripts indicate differences between participant group (Model 1; P < 0.05).