{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T14:50:40Z","timestamp":1792594240672,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2012,5,1]]},"abstract":"T regulatory cells (Tregs) play an important role in the mechanism of host's failure to control pathogen dissemination in severe forms of different chronic granulomatous diseases, but their role in leprosy has not yet been elucidated; 28 newly diagnosed patients (16 patients with lepromatous leprosy and 12 patients with tuberculoid leprosy) and 6 healthy Mycobacterium leprae<\/jats:italic>-exposed individuals (contacts) were studied. Tregs were quantified by flow cytometry (CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated in vitro<\/jats:italic> with a M. leprae<\/jats:italic> antigenic preparation and phytohemagglutinin as well as in skin lesions by immunohistochemistry. The lymphoproliferative (LPR), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interferon-\u03b3 (IFN-\u03b3) responses of the in vitro<\/jats:italic>-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells and the in situ<\/jats:italic> expression of IL-10, transforming growth factor-\u03b2 (TGF-\u03b2), and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) were also determined. We show that M. leprae<\/jats:italic> antigens induced significantly lower LPR but significantly higher Treg numbers in lepromatous than tuberculoid patients and contacts. Mitogen-induced LPR and Treg frequencies were not significantly different among the three groups. Tregs were also more frequent in situ<\/jats:italic> in lepromatous patients, and this finding was paralleled by increased expression of the antiinflammatory molecules IL-10 and CTLA-4 but not TGF-\u03b2. In lepromatous patients, Tregs were intermingled with vacuolized hystiocyte infiltrates all over the lesion, whereas in tuberculoid patients, Tregs were rare. Our results suggest that Tregs are present in increased numbers, and they may have a pathogenic role in leprosy patients harboring uncontrolled bacillary multiplication but not in those individuals capable of limiting M. leprae<\/jats:italic> growth.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.2012.12-0088","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,5,2]],"date-time":"2012-05-02T21:41:15Z","timestamp":1335994875000},"page":"878-883","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":60,"title":["Increased Expression of Regulatory T Cells and Down-Regulatory Molecules in Lepromatous Leprosy"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"86","author":[{"given":"Maria L.","family":"Palermo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carla","family":"Pagliari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Angela B.","family":"Trindade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tania M.","family":"Yamashitafuji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alberto Jos\u00e9 S.","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Camila R.","family":"Cacere","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gil","family":"Benard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2795","reference":[{"key":"R1","series-title":"Int J Lepr","first-page":"255","article-title":"Classification of leprosy according to immunity: a five-group system","volume":"34","author":"Ridley","year":"1966"},{"key":"R2","series-title":"Adv 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expression correlates with parasite burden in lesional tissues of post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) patients","volume":"5","author":"Katara","year":"2011"},{"key":"R20","series-title":"J Cutan Pathol","first-page":"778","article-title":"Pathology of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis: a light microscopical, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural study of skin lesions and draining lymph nodes","volume":"33","author":"Ismail","year":"2006"},{"key":"R21","series-title":"Int J Dermatol","first-page":"1152","article-title":"Circulating CD4+ CD25 high FoxP3+T cells vary in different clinical forms of leprosy","volume":"49","author":"Attia","year":"2010"},{"key":"R22","series-title":"Am J Dermatopathol","first-page":"251","article-title":"T regulatory cells and plasmocytoid dendritic cells in Hansen disease: a new insight into pathogenesis","volume":"32","author":"Massone","year":"2010"},{"key":"R23","series-title":"Blood","first-page":"3072","article-title":"Mucosal but not 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