CD4؉ CD25 ؉ T cells are a population of regulatory T cells responsible for the modulation of the immune response in several autoimmune and infectious disease models. We previously showed that adoptive transfer of enriched CD4 ؉ CD25 ؉ T cells also plays a major role in the prevention of arthritis in Borrelia-vaccinated (Borrelia burgdorferi isolate 297) and -challenged (B. bissettii) mice. Here, we present evidence that administration of anti-CD25 antibody at the time of challenge or at later intervals fails to enhance the development of severe destructive osteoarthropathy in Borrelia-vaccinated C57BL mice. However, Borrelia-vaccinated and -challenged mice receiving anti-CD25 antibody developed decreased borreliacidal antibody titers compared to vaccinated and challenged controls. These findings suggest that additional mechanisms besides CD4 ؉ CD25 ؉ T cells are involved in the regulation of the immune response to Borrelia infection following vaccination.We showed previously that severe destructive arthritis could be induced in Borrelia-vaccinated and -challenged mice (6, 9, 33, 34). The arthritis was prevented when these mice were treated with anti-interleukin 17 (IL-17) antibody (6). Concomitantly, the anti-IL-17-treated Borrelia-vaccinated and -challenged mice developed an inordinate number of CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells in the lymph nodes adjacent to the arthritic site (33). When anti-IL-17-treated Borrelia-vaccinated and -challenged mice were administered anti-CD25 antibody, the number of CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells decreased. More importantly, severe destructive arthritis was induced (33). These results suggest that CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells play an important role in the prevention of arthritis.The importance of CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells in prevention of arthritis was further advanced by adoptive transfer studies (34). Highly purified CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells were obtained from Borrelia-vaccinated and -infected mice treated with anti-IL-17 antibody. When Borrelia-vaccinated and -challenged mice were infused with CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells, they failed to develop severe destructive arthritis. In contrast, Borrelia-vaccinated and -challenged recipients of CD4 ϩ CD25 Ϫ T cells developed inflammation of the subsynovial tissues surrounding the tibiotarsal joint, destruction of articular cartilage, synovial hyperplasia, and infiltration of neutrophils into the synovial space. Together, these approaches establish that CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells can act to control the immunopathology of arthritis.It is clear that CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells are essential for maintaining homeostasis of the immune system (1, 48), especially for control of autoimmune diseases (3,16, 37, 38,(43)(44)(45). In addition, the regulatory activity of these naturally occurring
CD4ϩ CD25 ϩ T cells can be modulated by antigen stimulation or exposure to various cytokines (7, 13). Treatment of Borreliavaccinated and -challenged mice with anti-IL-17 antibody may have altered the immune system to produce a unique and potent population of CD4 ϩ CD25 ϩ cells that prevent arthritis (33). Here, we ...