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Immunotherapy

Low-dose IL-2 therapy expands human regulatory T cell populations

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 12, page 6 (2012)Cite this article

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Interleukin-2 (IL-2) promotes both effector T and regulatory T (TReg) cell responses, but it is believed that TReg cells may be more sensitive to IL-2. Two recent studies found that low-dose IL-2 therapy preferentially expands TReg cell populations in humans. Koreth et al. administered low-dose IL-2 to 29 patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). This increased TReg cell numbers in all patients without altering effector T cell numbers. Around half of the subjects showed clinical improvement; some patients even showed an improvement in GVHD manifestations that had been considered irreversible. Importantly, IL-2 therapy did not impair other immune functions. Saadoun et al. studied low-dose IL-2 therapy in 10 patients with autoimmune vasculitis induced by hepatitis C virus infection. All patients showed increased proportions of functional TReg cells, with 9 patients showing clinical improvement. Notably, the authors did not report any adverse effects of IL-2 therapy. Although not all patients showed clinical improvement in the studies, these results are promising.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Koreth, J. et al. Interleukin-2 and regulatory T cells in graft-versus-host disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 365, 2055–2066 (2011)Article

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Saadoun, D. et al. Regulatory T-cell responses to low-dose interleukin-2 in HCV-induced vasculitis. N. Engl. J. Med. 365, 2067–2077 (2011)Article

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Low-dose IL-2 therapy expands human regulatory T cell populations. Nat Rev Immunol 12, 6 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri3140

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