Fig. 3

EGCG suppresses lymphocyte responses to antigen stimulation in CIA. Subsets of T cells from draining lymph nodes (dLN) and B cells from spleen in vehicle-fed or EGCG-fed CIA mice were examined for frequencies by flow cytometry in three independent experiments with 4 to 5 mice per group. a,b Representative data for major T lymphocyte subsets of CD4⁺ (CD4 ⁺ CD8 ^-) and CD8⁺ (CD4⁻ CD8 ⁺) T cells from the dLN are shown. c,d dLN B cells (CD5⁻B220 ⁺) and splenic B cell subsets were assessed including splenic marginal zone B cells (B220 ⁺ CD23⁻CD21 ⁺) and splenic follicular B cells (B220 ⁺ CD23 ⁺ CD21⁻). The absolute number of marginal zone B cells (5.0 × 10⁷ cells ± 0.8 vehicle-fed vs 1.5 × 10⁷ cells ± 0.1 EGCG-fed, P < 0.01) and follicular B cells (1.9 × 10⁷ cells ± 0.2 vehicle-fed vs 0.3 × 10⁷ cells ± 0.04 EGCG-fed, P < 0.01) in CIA mice were significantly reduced in numbers following EGCG treatment. e,f Representative data shows EGCG treatment increased the number of CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ T cells recovered from the dLN as compared to vehicle-fed CIA mice