Portal hypertension is associated with modulation of regulatory T cells

Background: Portal hypertension is a complication of liver cirrhosis. The portal vein drains the spleen and the intestines, which are both rich in inflammatory mediators. Portal hypertension- induced stress within these organs that may result in pro-inflammatory changes. The association of these changes with regulatory T cells was not addressed before. Aim: Our aim is to investigate the involvement of some subsets of regulatory T cells in portal hypertension. Methods: In the current study we used the partial portal vein ligation model to demonstrate differences in the distribution of regulatory T cells within the portal vein and the inferior vena cava associated with portal hypertension. Results: We show that CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells are significantly (P <0.05) increased only in the inferior vena cava of partial portal vein ligation-rats. The development of portal hypertension was associated with the reversal of the distribution patterns in the portal vein and inferior vena cava for both CD4+ and CD8+ cells. We further show that in naïve rats CD4+IL17+ cells were significantly (P <0.05) and specifically enriched in inferior vena cava compared to the portal vein. Conclusions: These novel findings support the involvement of regulatory T cells in the inflammatory signals accompanied with acute portal hypertension.