Diminished peripheral blood memory B cells and accumulation of memory B cells in the salivary glands of patients with Sjogren's syndrome

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Diminished peripheral blood memory B cells and accumulation of memory B

cells in the salivary glands of patients with Sjogren's syndrome.

Hansen A, Odendahl M, Reiter K, i AM, Feist E, Scholze J, Burmester

GR, Lipsky PE, Dorner T.

University Hospital Charite, Berlin, Germany.

OBJECTIVE: To delineate the mechanism of the abnormalities in B cell

biology found in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS). METHODS:

The distribution of peripheral B cell subpopulations in 21 patients with

primary SS was analyzed by immunofluorescence labeling and flow

cytometry. Immunoglobulin rearrangements were analyzed in single B cells

isolated from the peripheral blood and parotid glands by

fluorescence-activated cell sorting. RESULTS: A significant reduction in

the number of peripheral CD27+ memory B cells was found in SS patients,

including a significantly reduced number of CD27+/IgD+/IgM+/CD5+ memory

B cells. Remarkably, SS patients with secondary lymphoma uniquely

exhibited an increase in CD27-expressing peripheral B cells, including

CD27(high) plasmablasts. Molecular analysis for mutated Ig gene

rearrangements confirmed that CD27 expression distinguished naive and

memory cells in SS. In contrast to the peripheral blood, the majority of

parotid B cells from 1 patient examined exhibited both the mutational

status and phenotype of memory B cells. Accordingly, the mutational

frequencies of V(H) rearrangements were significantly greater in parotid

B cells than in peripheral blood B cells, whereas the V(H) gene

repertoire appeared to be very similar between the compartments.

CONCLUSION: These data indicate that there is an accumulation/retention

of memory B cells in the inflamed salivary glands of SS patients. It is

possible that preferential accumulation of CD27+ memory B cells in the

inflamed parotid gland explains their reduction in the peripheral blood.

PMID: 12209521