Epirubicin Inhibits Soluble CD25 Secretion by Treg CellsIsolated from Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma Patients

Objective: To investigate the effect of epirubicin on soluble CD25 (sCD25) secretion by CD4+CD25+regulatory T (Treg) cells isolated from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients.
Methods: Treg cellswere isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from the newly diagnosed DBLCL patients.The concentration of sCD25 in the supernatant was determined with a commercial sCD25 (IL-2R) enzyme-linkedimmunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. The fluorescence intensity of CD25 was detected by flow cytometry.
Results:Cell survival rate was significantly decreased along with the increase of epirubicin concentration after treatmentfor 24 h. There was also a significant difference in the concentration of sCD25 between the epirubicin group andthe control group (P<0.01). A positive correlation between the Treg cells survival rate and the concentration ofsCD25 was detected (r=0.993, P<0.01). When equal numbers of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells of the epirubicin groupand the control group were cultured for another 24 h without epirubicin the CD25 fluorescence intensity onthe surface of Treg cells was obviously higher in the epirubicin group than that in the control group (P<0.01),while the sCD25 concentration in the supernatant in the epirubicin group was significantly lower than that inthe control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Epirubicin may improve the body’s immune functions by inhibiting thesCD25 secretion by Treg cells in DLBCL patients.