AUTHOR=Ssemaganda Aloysious , Cholette Francois , Perner Michelle , Kambaran Cheli , Adhiambo Wendy , Wambugu Peter M. , Gebrebrhan Henok , Lee Amy , Nuhu Faisal , Mwatelah Ruth S. , Jahan Naima , Omole Tosin E. , Wanjiru Tabitha , Gitau Apollo , Kimani Joshua , McKinnon Lyle R. TITLE=Endocervical Regulatory T Cells Are Associated With Decreased Genital Inflammation and Lower HIV Target Cell Abundance JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.726472 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2021.726472 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play important roles in tissue homeostasis, but few studies have investigated tissue Tregs in the context of genital inflammation, HIV target cell density, and vaginal microbiota in humans. In women from Nairobi (n=64), the proportion of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Tregs in the endocervix correlated with those in blood (r=0.31, p=0.01), with a higher Treg frequency observed in the endocervix (median 3.8 vs 2.0%, p<0.0001). Most Tregs expressed FOXP3 in both compartments, and CTLA-4 expression was higher on endocervical Tregs compared to blood (median 50.8 vs 6.0%, p<0.0001). More than half (34/62, 55%) of participants displayed a non-Lactobacillus dominant vaginal microbiota, which was not associated with endocervical Tregs or CD4+ T cell abundance. In a multivariable linear regression, endocervical Treg proportions were inversely associated with the number of elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines (p=0.03). Inverse Treg associations were also observed for specific cytokines including IL-1β, G-CSF, Eotaxin, IL-1RA, IL-8, and MIP-1 β. Higher endocervical Treg proportions were associated with lower abundance of endocervical CD4+ T cells (0.30 log10 CD4+ T cells per log10 Treg, p=0.00028), with a similar trend for Th17 cells (p=0.09). Selectively increasing endocervical Tregs may represent a pathway to reduce genital tract inflammation in women.