Research Article The Expansion of CD25highIL-10highFoxP3high B Regulatory Cells Is in Association with SLE Disease Activity

Copyright © 2015 Zahava Vadasz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. B regulatory cells (Bregs) belong to a subgroup of activated B cells tasked with maintaining self-tolerance and preventing autoimmunity. While sharing similar regulatory mechanisms such as IL-10 dependency, they also defer in exhibiting their suppressive effects by expressing Fas-Ligand, TGF-beta, and PDL-1. In this study we show, for the first time, the expansion of CD25highFoxP3high Bregs in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients compared to healthy individuals (18.5 ± 3.052 % versus 11.0 ± 1.654%