Intravenous immunoglobulin exerts reciprocal regulation of Th1/Th17 cells and regulatory T cells in Guillain-Barré syndrome patients

Mohan S Maddur (1) , Magalie Rabin (1) , Pushpa Hegde (1) , Francis Bolgert (2) , Moneger Guy (2) , Jean-Michel Vallat (3) , Laurent Magy (3) , Jagadeesh Bayry (1, 4) , Srini V Kaveri (1, 4)

1 CRC - Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers
2 CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière [AP-HP]
3 NNerf - Centre de référence national neuropathies périphériques rares [CHU Limoges]
4 International Associated Laboratory IMPACT

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute, autoimmune inflammatory disorder of peripheral nervous system characterized by a severe functional motor weakness. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) is one of the approved and preferred therapeutic strategies for GBS. However, the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic benefit with IVIg in GBS are not completely understood. In the present study, we observed that GBS patients have increased frequencies of Th1 and Th17 cells, but reduced number of Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Treg cells) with defective functions. We show that IVIg treatment in GBS patients results in a marked reduction in the frequency of Th1 and Th17 cells with a concomitant expansion of Treg cells. Importantly, IVIg-expanded Treg cells exhibited an increased T cell suppressive function. Together our results demonstrate that therapeutic benefit of IVIg in GBS patients implicates the reciprocal regulation of Th1/Th17 and Treg cells.

Mots clés: Regulatory T cells; Th17 cells; Th1 cells; Intravenous immunoglobulin; IVIg; Guillain–Barré syndrome

Domaines: Immunologie

Mohan S Maddur, Magalie Rabin, Pushpa Hegde, Francis Bolgert, Moneger Guy, et al.. Intravenous immunoglobulin exerts reciprocal regulation of Th1/Th17 cells and regulatory T cells in Guillain-Barré syndrome patients. Immunologic Research, 2014, 60 (2-3), pp.320-329. ⟨10.1007/s12026-014-8580-6⟩. ⟨hal-01102873⟩