Trial reportPloS one2011
Influence of short-term glucocorticoid therapy on regulatory T cells in vivo.
Trial report in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Drug tapering in animal research: current practices and challenges.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Systemically Administered Hydrocortisone on the Human Immunome.Scientific reports · 2016Trial
- Role of Peripheral Regulatory T Lymphocytes in Patients with Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy During Systemic Glucocorticoid Treatment: A Prospective Observational Study.Current medical science · 2023Observational
- Ecoimmunology in the field: Measuring multiple dimensions of immune function with minimally invasive, field-adapted techniques.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2022Review
- Effect of systemic steroid therapy in Graves' orbitopathy on regulatory T cells and Th17/Treg ratio.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2021Article
- Relationship between CCR5Postepy dermatologii i alergologii · 2021Article
- Regulatory T cell function in autoimmune disease.Journal of translational autoimmunity · 2021Review
- Protection of Antigen-Primed Effector T Cells From Glucocorticoid-Induced Apoptosis in Cell Culture and in a Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Cyclosporine A but Not Corticosteroids Support Efficacy ofFrontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Regulatory T cells mediated immunomodulation during asthma: a therapeutic standpoint.Journal of translational medicine · 2020Review
- Control of immunity by glucocorticoids in health and disease.Seminars in immunopathology · 2020Review
- Methylprednisolone Reduces Persistent Post-ischemic Inflammation in a Rat Hypoxia-Ischemia Model of Perinatal Stroke.Translational stroke research · 2020Article
- Article
- Comparative Study of Immunomodulatory Agents to Induce Human T Regulatory (Treg) Cells: Preferential Treg-Stimulatory Effect of Prednisolone and Rapamycin.Archivum immunologiae et therapiae experimentalis · 2020Article
- Context-Dependent Effect of Glucocorticoids on the Proliferation, Differentiation, and Apoptosis of Regulatory T Cells: A Review of the Empirical Evidence and Clinical Applications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Review
- Glucocorticoid Receptor-Deficient Foxp3Frontiers in immunology · 2019Article
- TCD4Journal of translational medicine · 2017Article
- High-Intensity Chemotherapy is Associated with Better Prognosis in Young Patients with High-Risk Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma: A 10-Year Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2016Article
- Immunoendocrine dysbalance during uncontrolled T. cruzi infection is associated with the acquisition of a Th-1-like phenotype by Foxp3(+) T cells.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2015Article
- Regulatory T Cell Responses to High-Dose Methylprednisolone in Active Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.PloS one · 2015Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPre- and early clinical studies on patients with autoimmune diseases suggested that induction of regulatory T(T(reg)) cells may contribute to the immunosuppressive effects of glucocorticoids (GCs).
objectiveWe readdressed the influence of GC therapy on T(reg) cells in immunocompetent human subjects and naïve mice.
methodsMice were treated with increasing doses of intravenous dexamethasone followed by oral taper, and T(reg) cells in spleen and blood were analyzed by FACS. Sixteen patients with sudden hearing loss but without an inflammatory disease received high-dose intravenous prednisolone followed by stepwise dose reduction to low oral prednisolone. Peripheral blood T(reg) cells were analyzed prior and after a 14 day GC therapy based on different markers.
resultsRepeated GC administration to mice for three days dose-dependently decreased the absolute numbers of T(reg) cells in blood (100 mg dexamethasone/kg body weight: 2.8±1.8×10(4) cells/ml vs. 33±11×10(4) in control mice) and spleen (dexamethasone: 2.8±1.9×10(5)/spleen vs. 95±22×10(5)/spleen in control mice), which slowly recovered after 14 days taper in spleen but not in blood. The relative frequency of FOXP3(+) T(reg) cells amongst the CD4(+) T cells also decreased in a dose dependent manner with the effect being more pronounced in blood than in spleen. The suppressive capacity of T(reg) cells was unaltered by GC treatment in vitro. In immunocompetent humans, GCs induced mild T cell lymphocytosis. However, it did not change the relative frequency of circulating T(reg) cells in a relevant manner, although there was some variation depending on the definition of the T(reg) cells (FOXP3(+): 4.0±1.5% vs 3.4±1.5%*; AITR(+): 0.6±0.4 vs 0.5±0.3%, CD127(low): 4.0±1.3 vs 5.0±3.0%* and CTLA4+: 13.8±11.5 vs 15.6±12.5%; * p<0.05).
conclusionShort-term GC therapy does not induce the hitherto supposed increase in circulating T(reg) cell frequency, neither in immunocompetent humans nor in mice. Thus, it is questionable that the clinical efficacy of GCs is achieved by modulating T(reg) cell numbers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.