ANCA-associated Vasculitis Patients Have Defective Treg Function Exacerbated by Presence of a Suppression-Resistant Effector Population

Objective The development of pathogenic anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCAs) can result in systemic small vessel vasculitis. However, the breakdown in immune tolerance that results in the induction and persistence of ANCAs is not well-understood. We hypothesized that abnormal T cell regulation is central to disease pathogenesis and demonstrate here two separate abnormalities in T cell regulation in ANCA-associated vasculitis patients.