[Functional properties of B-lymphocytes of patients with a B-cell variant of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and chronic glomerulonephritis].

The common features of the pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) have been shown as a result of a comprehensive study of the functional properties of B cells. Both CLL and CGN are accompanied by the appearance and accumulation of different types of activated B cells characterized by high spontaneous proliferation and/or Ig secretion; or sensitivity to T cell growth and differentiation factors; or capacity for Ig secretion; in mitomycin C treated B cell cultures (i.e. without previous proliferation). The present data may be useful in the integral evaluation of B cell function in health and in immunopathologies (lymphoproliferative and autoimmune/immune complex diseases).