Abstract
Indirubin, a traditional Chinese medicine, is used to treat autoimmune diseases in clinics. However, the effects of indirubin on the immunosuppressive CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) have not been addressed. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effects of indirubin on CD4+CD25+Treg cells in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) CBA mice, which were established by immunization with Wistar rat platelets. 50 mg/kg indirubin treatment daily for 4 weeks significantly decreased anti-platelet antibody production and prevented the decrease of platelets caused by immunization in ITP mice. Consistently, indirubin significantly enhanced the percentage and cell number of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cells in the peripheral blood, spleen and lymph nodes. We also observed a significant increase of the frequency and cell number of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cells in the thymus upon indirubin treatment. Furthermore, CD4+CD25+Treg cells from indirubin-treated mice showed similar immunosuppression on T effector cells as compared to those from control mice. Altogether, indirubin ameliorates ITP by enhancing CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cell level with preserving immunosuppressive function.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / therapeutic use
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Antibodies, Monoclonal / chemistry
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Blood Platelets / metabolism
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Disease Models, Animal
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Female
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Flow Cytometry
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Forkhead Transcription Factors / metabolism*
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Immune Tolerance
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Immunosuppressive Agents / chemistry
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Indoles / therapeutic use
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Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / metabolism
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Lymph Nodes / metabolism
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Mice
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Mice, Inbred CBA
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Microscopy, Fluorescence
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Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / metabolism*
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Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / prevention & control*
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Rats
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Rats, Wistar
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Spleen / cytology
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Spleen / metabolism
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T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / cytology*
Substances
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Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
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Antibodies, Monoclonal
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Forkhead Transcription Factors
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Foxp3 protein, mouse
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Immunosuppressive Agents
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Indoles
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Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit
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indirubin
Grants and funding
This work was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (30801258, 81401014), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2013T6675, 2012M511036), National Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province(ZR2014HM093, BS2013YY049), the Star of Jinan Youth Science and Technology Project (20100114). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.