Possible involvement of regulatory T cell abnormalities and variational
usage of TCR repertoire in children with autoimmune neutropenia
Abstract
Autoimmune neutropenia (AIN) in childhood is characterized by chronic
neutropenia and positivity for antineutrophil antibodies, resulting in
the excessive destruction of neutrophils. In this study, we investigated
the involvement of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the pathogenesis of AIN
in childhood. Tregs have been classified into three subpopulations based
on the expressions of CD45RA and FOXP3: resting Tregs, activated Tregs,
and non-suppressive Tregs. The frequency of activated Tregs
(CD4+CD25+FOXP3highCD45RA− T cells) as well as that of total Tregs
(CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ T cells) in peripheral blood was significantly
decreased in patients with AIN. Analysis of the T cell receptor (TCR)-Vβ
repertoire of CD4+ T cells revealed skewed usages in patients with AIN
compared with that observed in age-matched control subjects. Regarding T
cell subsets, the use of four of 24 TCR-Vβ families in Tregs and one in
conventional T cells were increased in patients with AIN. The number of
patients with AIN who showed skewed usages of TCR-Vβ family in
conventional and Tregs was significantly higher than that reported in
control subjects. When the preference between Tregs and conventional T
cells in each TCR-Vβ family was individually compared, different use was
prominently observed in the TCR-Vβ 9 family in patients with AIN. These
results suggest that the quantitative abnormalities of Tregs and the
skew of the TCR-Vβ repertoire in CD4+ T cells, including Tregs and
conventional T cells, may be related to autoantibody production through
a human neutrophil antigen-reactive T cell clone.