Fig. 10: Blood and pancreatic tissue samples of CP patients contain increased numbers of Treg cells.

T cells were isolated from EDTA blood samples of patients (CP) and blood doners (BD) and were analyzed by flow cytometry. a The T cell activation marker CD25 (p = 0.0317, BD n = 10/CP n = 7) was significantly elevated in CP patients compared to BD, whereas the elevation of the surface expression of CD69 (BD n = 10/CP n = 7) did not reach significance. T cell differentiation was analyzed by intracellular transcription factor staining of FOXP3, GATA3 and TBET. b FOXP3⁺CD25⁺ Treg cells were significantly elevated in the blood of CP patients (p = 0.0345, BD n = 10/CP n = 7), c in the same manner as GATA3⁺ Th2 cells (p = 0.0026, BD n = 10/CP n = 7). d Interestingly also TBET⁺ Th1 cells were significantly increased (p = 0.0478, BD n = 10/CP n = 7). e Representative immunofluorescence labeling images of CD4 and FOXP3 illustrate a high number of CD4⁺FOXP3⁺ Treg cells in human CP tissue. f Summary illustration showing how regulatory T cells control organ fibrosis during chronic pancreatitis by suppressing Th2/ILC2-mediated alternative activation of macrophages via IL-4/IL-13. Alternatively activated macrophages in turn induce activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSC) which contribute to extracellular matrix production and fibrosis. All data were presented as means ± SEM, statistically significant differences were tested by unpaired two-tailed students t-test for independent samples and significance levels of p < 0.05 are marked by an asterisk (a–d). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.