Figure 7.

Correlation analysis between CCR4⁺CCR6⁺ Th/Treg ratio and immunomodulation potential of bone marrow-derived mensenchymal stem cells. (A) All patients with ankylosing spondylitis (ASp), (B) HLA-B27-negative healthy donors (HD1) and (C) HLA-B27-positive healthy donors (HD2) presented significantly negative correlations between the ratio of CCR4⁺CCR6⁺ T-helper (Th) cells to regulatory T (Treg) cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and percentage inhibition either from two-way mixed PBMC reaction (MLR) (upper panel) or PBMC proliferation induced by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) (lower panel) at a bone marrow-derived mensenchymal stem cell (BMSC):PBMC ratio of 1:10 (P < 0.01, respectively).