Canine B cell lymphoma shows no deficit of cytotoxic T cells relative to thymic Tregs.

<p>When expressed as a proportion of all cells aspirated from the lymph node, the frequency of CD8⁺ T cells (A,B) was decreased in BCL (and MCT), again attributed to neoplastic effacement (p = 0.0005). The frequency of CD8⁺ cells within the CD5⁺ T cell population also showed differences between groups (C; p = 0.04). The ratio of CD8⁺:FOXP3⁺ cells (D) was not significantly different between groups (p = 0.06), though dogs with BCL showed the six highest ratios of the cohort, and a trend for higher values in the BCL group was observed. Indeed, the ratio of CD8⁺:FOXP3⁺Helios⁺ cells (E) was higher in the BCL than RH cases (p = 0.04); only two data points for the MCT (3.48; 3.95) were available for this variable and were not therefore represented. Representative dot plots for all the groups are shown alongside their respective isotype controls, followed by box-and-whisker plots summarising the data. (For key to symbols, refer to <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0105027#pone-0105027-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a>).