Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27270893›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of experimental medicine2016

Anti-TNF drives regulatory T cell expansion by paradoxically promoting membrane TNF-TNF-RII binding in rheumatoid arthritis.

Dao Xuan Nguyen, Michael R Ehrenstein

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of experimental medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
103citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
12.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

103 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 173 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Current landscape of drug induced retinal vasculitis.Journal of ophthalmic inflammation and infection · 2026
    Review
  5. Review
  6. Regulatory T cells in cancer and inflammation.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026
    Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. The 'TNature reviews. Rheumatology · 2025
    Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Dao Xuan NguyenDivision of Medicine, Centre for Rheumatology, University College London, WC1E 6JF London, England, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9103-2646
Michael R EhrensteinDivision of Medicine, Centre for Rheumatology, University College London, WC1E 6JF London, England, UK M.Ehrenstein@ucl.ac.uk.
University College London · GB

Funding

Versus Arthritis 20687
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The interplay between inflammatory and regulatory pathways orchestrates an effective immune response that provides protection from pathogens while limiting injury to host tissue. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a pivotal inflammatory cytokine, but there is conflicting evidence as to whether it boosts or inhibits regulatory T cells (T reg cells). In this study, we show that the therapeutic anti-TNF antibody adalimumab, but not the soluble TNF receptor etanercept, paradoxically promoted the interaction between monocytes and T reg cells isolated from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Adalimumab bound to monocyte membrane TNF from RA patients and unexpectedly enhanced its expression and its binding to TNF-RII expressed on T reg cells. As a consequence, adalimumab expanded functional Foxp3(+) T reg cells equipped to suppress Th17 cells through an IL-2/STAT5-dependent mechanism. Our data not only highlight the beneficial effect of membrane TNF on T reg cell numbers during chronic inflammation, but in addition reveal how a therapeutic antibody that is thought to act by simply blocking its target can enhance the regulatory properties of this proinflammatory cytokine.

Indexed as

Tumor Necrosis Factor-alphaAdalimumabArthritis, RheumatoidCell MembraneFemaleHumansMaleMonocytesReceptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type IITh17 CellsT-Lymphocytes, RegulatoryAdalimumabReceptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type IITumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Identifiers

PMID27270893
PMCPMC4925013
OpenAlexW2410260085

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.