Effects of interleukin-6 signal inhibition on Treg subpopulations and association of Tregs with clinical outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis
Authors' conclusion
Blocking the IL-6 receptor with TCZ increased the proportion of rTregs, a functional Treg subpopulation. Patients with an early increase in rTregs showed a favourable treatment course
Study context
- Population
- Patients with RA who started tocilizumab with or without MTX, and healthy controls
- Participants
- 40 vs 11
- Comparison
- RA patients starting tocilizumab (TCZ) with or without MTX vs healthy controls; Treg subsets from baseline to week 52
- RAn = 40
- Healthy controls (HCs)n = 11reference
- Outcome
- Proportions of functional Treg subsets with IL-6 receptor blockade and their relationship with clinical outcome
- Follow-up
- Baseline to week 52
Methodological detailslongitudinal, flow cytometry
- Longitudinal
- Flow cytometry
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Treg subsets
- Resting Tregs (rTregs) and rTregs+aTregs significantly lower in RA at baseline than in HCs
- CD127low Tregs, rTregs, aTregs and rTregs+aTregs significantly increased with TCZ treatment
- rTregs increased in patients treated with TCZ without MTX
- Increase in rTregs at week 12 associated with significantly fewer arthritis flares during observation
Original publication
Effects of interleukin-6 signal inhibition on Treg subpopulations and association of Tregs with clinical outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 26 March 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →