Treg/Th17 cell balance and phytohaemagglutinin activation of T lymphocytes in peripheral blood of systemic sclerosis patients

Figure 1 Decreased percentage of CD3+CD69+ cells upon PHA stimulation in the circulation of patients with systemic sclerosis as opposed to healthy controls. A: Percentage of CD3+CD69+ cells in PHA-stimulated samples from SSc patients (n = 24) and healthy controls (n = 16), as it follows: 13.35% ± 2.90% vs 37.03% ± 2.33%, P < 0.001. The boxplots represent mean ± SD; B and C: PHA stimulated sample of one representative subject from each group is shown. The percentage of CD69+ cells in the whole T cell pool (CD3+ cells) is depicted. SSc: Systemic sclerosis.