IL-10 producing cTfreg cells were decreased in MS patients
Being the most common anti-inflammatory cytokine, we analyzed and compared the secretion of IL-10 between HC and MS patients. In PBMCs, IL-10 secreting cells were significantly lower in MS patients compared to HC (0.77±0.14% vs. 2.15±0.38%, p=0.004) (Fig. 6a,d). Next, we investigated the production of IL-10 by follicular and non-follicular cTreg cells, followed by comparative observation between HC and MS patients. The results showed that compared to non-follicular cTreg cells, higher percentage of cTfreg cells secreted IL-10 in both HC (19.19±2.71% vs. 4.41±0.87%, p=0.0001) and MS patients (11.85±1.24% vs. 2.39±0.23%, p<0.0001), respectively (Fig. 6b,c,e). Similar to the trend of decreased frequency of cTfreg cells in MS, IL-10 producing cTfreg cells were significantly reduced in MS patients compared to HC (11.85±1.24% vs. 19.19±2.71%, p=0.02) (Fig. 6b,c,e). The percentage of IL-10 producing non-follicular cTreg cells were also reduced in MS patients compared to HC (Fig. 6c,e).