Two separate effects contribute to regulatory T cell defect in systemic lupus erythematosus patients and their unaffected relatives

Forkhead box P3 (FoxP3)(+) regulatory T cells (T(regs)) are functionally deficient in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), characterized by reduced surface CD25 [the interleukin (IL)‐2 receptor alpha chain]. Low‐dose IL‐2 therapy is a promising current approach to correct this defect. To elucidate the origins of the SLE T(reg) phenotype, we studied its role through developmentally defined regulatory T cell (T(reg)) subsets in 45 SLE patients, 103 SLE‐unaffected first‐degree relatives and 61 unrelated healthy control subjects, and genetic association with the CD25‐encoding IL2RA locus. We identified two separate, uncorrelated effects contributing to T(reg) CD25. (1) SLE patients and unaffected relatives remarkably shared CD25 reduction versus controls, particularly in the developmentally earliest CD4(+)FoxP3(+)CD45RO(–)CD31(+) recent thymic emigrant T(regs). This first component effect influenced the proportions of circulating CD4(+)FoxP3(high)CD45RO(+) activated T(regs). (2) In contrast, patients and unaffected relatives differed sharply in their activated T(reg) CD25 state: while relatives as control subjects up‐regulated CD25 strongly in these cells during differentiation from naive T(regs), SLE patients specifically failed to do so. This CD25 up‐regulation depended upon IL2RA genetic variation and was related functionally to the proliferation of activated T(regs), but not to their circulating numbers. Both effects were found related to T cell IL‐2 production. Our results point to (1) a heritable, intrathymic mechanism responsible for reduced CD25 on early T(regs) and decreased activation capacity in an extended risk population, which can be compensated by (2) functionally independent CD25 up‐regulation upon peripheral T(reg) activation that is selectively deficient in patients. We expect that T(reg)‐directed therapies can be monitored more effectively when taking this distinction into account.