B cell-deficient NOD.H-2h4 mice have CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells that inhibit the development of spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis.

Wild-type (WT) NOD.H-2h4 mice develop spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis (SAT) when given 0.05% NaI in their drinking water, whereas B cell-deficient NOD.H-2h4 mice are SAT resistant. To test the hypothesis that resistance of B cell-deficient mice to SAT was due to the activity of regulatory CD4+CD25+ T (T reg) cells activated if autoantigen was initially presented on non-B cells, CD25+ T reg cells were transiently depleted in vivo using anti-CD25. B cell-deficient NOD.H-2h4 mice given three weekly injections of anti-CD25 developed SAT 8 wk after NaI water. Thyroid lesions were similar to those in WT mice except there were no B cells in thyroid infiltrates. WT and B cell-deficient mice had similar numbers of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells. Mice with transgenic nitrophenyl-specific B cells unable to secrete immunoglobulin were also resistant to SAT, and transient depletion of T reg cells resulted in severe SAT with both T and B cells in thyroid infiltrates. T reg cells that inhibit SAT were eliminated by day 3 thymectomy, indicating they belong to the subset of naturally occurring T reg cells. However, T reg cell depletion did not increase SAT severity in WT mice, suggesting that T reg cells may be nonfunctional when effector T cells are activated; i.e., by autoantigen-presenting B cells.