{"id":37314,"date":"2026-04-03T01:05:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/regulatory-t-cells-may-influence-inflammation-and-behavior-in-autism\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T01:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:05:46","slug":"regulatory-t-cells-may-influence-inflammation-and-behavior-in-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/regulatory-t-cells-may-influence-inflammation-and-behavior-in-autism\/","title":{"rendered":"Regulatory T cells may influence inflammation and behavior in autism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"body-2b764004-ebbc-40a0-b2a8-04891f0d1615\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n            <span itemprop=\"author\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Organization\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"News Medical\"\/><meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.news-medical.net\/\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Two new studies from the UC Davis Mind Institute examined regulatory T cells (Tregs) and their potential role in neuroinflammation and behavioral changes associated with autism.<\/p>\n<p>Tregs act as \u201cbrakes\u201d of the immune system, calming inflammation to prevent overreaction. These are often reduced in autistic individuals.<\/p>\n<p>Previous studies have found higher levels of inflammatory immune cells in the blood, brain and gastrointestinal tissues of people with autism. These increased inflammatory responses are often associated with greater behavioral support needs, while higher levels of Tregs are associated with better behavioral outcomes. Despite this, Tregs have not been well studied in autistic children, and their potential as a therapeutic target is largely unknown.<\/p>\n<h2>Altered Tregs in autistic children<\/h2>\n<p>The first study, published in the journal Neuroinflammation, characterizes Tregs in children with autism. This determined whether gastrointestinal (GI) problems, a common co-occurring condition, altered Tregs in a unique manner.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers found that autistic children had altered Tregs, both in number and in the genes used by those cells. This was compared to typically developing children. All participants were enrolled in the CHARGE study (Childhood Autism Risk from Genetics and Environment), an ongoing study that supports autism research.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers compared the numbers and types of Tregs in 36 children with autism and 18 typically developing children. They also examined gene expression in Tregs to determine whether there were differences between the two groups. Additionally, they looked at the association between Tregs and gastrointestinal symptoms in autistic children.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers found that altered Tregs appear in children with autism. Compared to typically developing children, children with autism:<\/p>\n<p><!-- end mobile middle mrec --><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Low numbers of Tregs<\/strong>. Tregs were generally reduced in autistic children, but the specific Treg population decreased depended on whether the child had GI problems. Children with autism and GI problems had fewer Tregs able to produce anti-inflammatory proteins. Children without GI problems had fewer Tregs able to divide after activation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Differentially expressed genes.<\/strong> There were 213 differentially expressed genes in Tregs from autistic children, of which 171 were upregulated (increased output) and 42 were downregulated (decreased output).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The upregulated genes primarily help cells reorganize and repair DNA and adjust how they manage energy and fat metabolism. The downregulated genes were mostly involved in energy production, such as converting oxygen and nutrients into useful energy.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers say more research is needed, but these changes in metabolism and DNA organization suggest that the identity of Tregs is unstable. One similarity was that having low Tregs was associated with more challenging behavior in both typically developing children and children with autism.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These differences in Treg populations may help explain the higher levels of inflammation seen in autism and may be linked to gastrointestinal problems and some behavioral symptoms,&#8221; said Rachel Moreno, a postdoctoral fellow at the MIND Institute and first author of the study. &#8220;This data supports the idea that the immune system plays an important role in autism in at least some individuals.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Exploration of Tregs as potential biological therapies<\/h2>\n<p>There is increasing interest in biological treatments for autism that target Tregs.<\/p>\n<p>In a second study, also published in the journal Neuroinflammation, the authors evaluated whether increasing Tregs could reduce inflammation and behavioral challenges.<\/p>\n<p>They used a mouse model of altered neurodevelopment, maternal immune activation (MIA), in which the offspring display autism-like behaviors.<\/p>\n<p>The team transferred Tregs from healthy mice into male and female MIA mice, and evaluated tissues commonly inflamed in autism, including blood, brain and intestine.<\/p>\n<p>They found significant gender differences in MIA mouse offspring that had received Treg transfer, with males showing more changes than females.<\/p>\n<p>Male rats showed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>healthy immune balance<\/strong>: Treg treatment increased helper Treg cells and reduced pro-inflammatory cells in both the spleen and intestine.<\/li>\n<li><strong>reduce swelling<\/strong>: Men produce less inflammatory cytokines, such as <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC6474359\/\">IL\u201117,<\/a> After treatment, a calm immune system is indicated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>widespread changes in the brain<\/strong>: Hundreds of genes changed in the cerebellum, frontal cortex and hippocampus after Treg treatment, many of which were related to brain development, immune activity and conditions such as autism.<\/li>\n<li><strong>improve behavior<\/strong>: After Treg treatment, men showed improvements in behaviors like self-grooming and socializing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Female rats showed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>small immune effect<\/strong>: Women showed fewer changes in immune cells, and Treg treatment had only a modest effect on gut and spleen cell types.<\/li>\n<li><strong>mixed inflammatory signs<\/strong>: Some inflammatory molecules decreased (such as IL\u20116), while others increased after treatment, suggesting a more complex response.<\/li>\n<li><strong>minimal changes in brain<\/strong>: Women showed little or no change in brain gene expression after treatment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>improve social behavior<\/strong>: Treg treatment helped restore normal social behavior in women, but did not improve self-grooming.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Transferring Tregs into the MIA model reduced inflammation and improved brain and behavioral outcomes, with the most significant benefits seen in male mice,&#8221; said Paul Ashwood, senior author of both studies. Ashwood is a professor in the UC Davis Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and a faculty member of the UC Davis Mind Institute.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These results suggest that Treg therapy may be a promising approach to reducing inflammation and related effects in conditions associated with maternal immune activation and neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism,&#8221; Ashwood said.<\/p>\n<h2>Limitations of both studies<\/h2>\n<p>The researchers noted several limitations. The first study was limited by its small sample size. In the second study, Treg transfer occurred at 10 weeks, and transfer into young mice (when the immune and brain systems are still developing) may be more relevant to inflammation than behavioral modification.<\/p>\n<div id=\"sources\" class=\"content-source below-content-common-a\">\n<p>Source:<\/p>\n<div class=\"content-src-value\">\n<p><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/health.ucdavis.edu\/welcome\/news\/headlines\/regulatory-t-cells-altered-in-children-with-autism\/2026\/04\">University of California &#8211; Davis Health<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Journal Reference:<\/p>\n<div class=\"content-src-value\">\n<p>Moreno, RJ, <em>and others<\/em>. (2026). Altered phenotype and gene expression of regulatory T cells (Tregs), and association with concomitant gastrointestinal symptoms, in children with autism. <em>Neuroinflammation Journal. <\/em>doi:10.1186\/s12974-026-03701-w. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s12974-026-03701-w\">https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s12974-026-03701-w<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two new studies from the UC Davis Mind Institute examined regulatory T cells (Tregs) and their potential role in neuroinflammation and behavioral changes associated with autism. Tregs act as \u201cbrakes\u201d of the immune system, calming inflammation to prevent overreaction. These are often reduced in autistic individuals. Previous studies have found higher levels of inflammatory immune<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[944,1365,15123,13621,3384,15032],"class_list":["post-37314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-meditation","tag-autism","tag-behavior","tag-cells","tag-inflammation","tag-influence","tag-regulatory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37315,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37314\/revisions\/37315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}