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  • Regulatory T-cell dysfuncti...
    Ciudad, Marion; Ouandji, Sethi; Lamarthée, Baptiste; Cladière, Claudie; Ghesquière, Thibault; Nivet, Martin; Thébault, Marine; Boidot, Romain; Soudry-Faure, Agnès; Chevrier, Sandy; Richard, Corentin; Maillet, Thibault; Maurier, François; Greigert, Hélène; Genet, Coraline; Ramon, André; Trad, Malika; Predan, Valérie; Saas, Philippe; Samson, Maxime; Bonnotte, Bernard; Audia, Sylvain

    Haematologica (Roma), 02/2024, Volume: 109, Issue: 2
    Journal Article

    Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (wAIHA) is a rare acquired autoimmune disease mediated by antibodies targeting red blood cells. The involvement of CD4 T-helper cells has been scarcely explored, with most findings extrapolated from animal models. Here, we performed quantification of both effector T lymphocytes (Teff) and regulatory T cells (Treg), associated with functional and transcriptomic analyses of Treg in human wAIHA. We observed a shift of Teff toward a Th17 polarization concordant with an increase in serum interleukin-17 concentration that correlates with red blood cell destruction parameters, namely lactate dehydrogenase and bilirubin levels. A decrease in circulating Treg, notably effector Treg, associated with a functional deficiency, as represented by their decrease capability to inhibit Teff proliferation, were also observed. Treg deficiency was associated with a reduced expression of Foxp3, the master transcription factor known to maintain the Treg phenotype stability and suppressive functions. Transcriptomic profiling of Treg revealed activation of the tumor necrosis facto (TNF)-α pathway, which was linked to increased serum TNF-α concentrations that were twice as high as in controls. Treg transcriptomic profiling also suggested that post-translational mechanisms possibly accounted for Foxp3 downregulation and Treg dysfunctions. Since TNF-α participates in the rupture of immune tolerance during wAIHA, its inhibition could be of interest. To this end, the effects of fostamatinib, a SYK inhibitor, were investigated in vitro, and we showed that besides the inhibition of erythrocyte phagocytosis by monocytes, fostamatinib is also able to dampen TNF-α production, thus appearing as a promising multitargeting therapy in wAIHA (clinicaltrials gov. Identifier: NCT02158195).