Regulatory B cells (Bregs) are critical in maintaining self-tolerance. Their role in dermatomyositis (DM), an autoimmune disease characterized by inappropriate regulation of hyperactivated B and T cells, has not been clearly defined. In the current study, we performed flow cytometry analysis of studied CD19(+) CD24(high)CD38(high) Breg subpopulations in blood samples from 30 patients with DM, 37 diseased controls and 23 healthy controls. A significant decrease was observed in the frequency of Bregs in DM patients compared to that in diseased controls (p < 0.0001) and in healthy controls (p < 0.0001). And the prevalence of Bregs deficiency (defined as Bregs/B cells < 0.50% in this study) in DM patients went as high as 73.3%. Furthermore, DM patients with positive myositis specific autoantibody often had lower Bregs levels than negative patients (p = 0.036), and lower level of Bregs was also found in DM patients with interstitial lung disease than in DM patients without (p = 0.041). In a follow-up study, seven DM patients were considered to be in remission stage, and their Breg levels were found to have significantly increased after treatment (p = 0.022). Our research revealed that Breg deficiency is an immunopathogenic feature of DM and provided insights into the design of new immunotherapy target for DM clinical interventions.
基金:
National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [91542121, 81571603, 81401363]; Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Beijing [Z151100004015143]
第一作者单位:[1]Department of Rheumatology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.
通讯作者:
推荐引用方式(GB/T 7714):
Wenli Li,Xiaolan Tian,Xin Lu,et al.Significant decrease in peripheral regulatory B cells is an immunopathogenic feature of dermatomyositis[J].SCIENTIFIC REPORTS.2016,6:doi:10.1038/srep27479.
APA:
Wenli Li,Xiaolan Tian,Xin Lu,Qinglin Peng,Xiaoming Shu...&Guochun Wang.(2016).Significant decrease in peripheral regulatory B cells is an immunopathogenic feature of dermatomyositis.SCIENTIFIC REPORTS,6,
MLA:
Wenli Li,et al."Significant decrease in peripheral regulatory B cells is an immunopathogenic feature of dermatomyositis".SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 6.(2016)