CD4+CD25bright T cells in human intestinal lamina propria as regulatory cells

It is well known that immune responses in the intestine remain in a state of controlled inflammation, suggesting that not only active suppression by regulatory T cells plays an important role in the normal intestinal homeostasis, but also its dysregulation leads to the development of inflammatory bowel disease. In this study, we demonstrate that the CD4(+)CD25(bright) T cells reside in the human intestinal lamina propria (LP) and functionally retain regulatory activities. All human LP CD4(+) T cells regardless of CD25 expression constitutively expressed CTLA-4, glucocorticoid-induced TNFR family-related protein, and Foxp3 and proliferate poorly. Although LP CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells showed an activated and anergic/memory phenotype, they did not retain regulatory activity. In LP CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells, however, cells expressing CD25 at high levels (CD4(+)CD25(bright)) suppressed the proliferation and various cytokine productions of CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells. LP CD4+CD25 bright T cells by themselves produced fewer amounts of IL-2, IFN-gamma, and IL-10. Interestingly, LP CD4(+)CD25(bright) T cells with regulatory T activity were significantly increased in patients with active inflammatory bowel disease. These results suggest that CD4(+)CD25(bright) T cells found in the normal and inflamed intestinal mucosa selectively inhibit the host immune response and therefore may contribute to the intestinal immune homeostasis.