Abreu Mónica T, Carvalheiro Helena, Rodrigues-Sousa Tiago, Domingos António, Segorbe-Luis António, Rodrigues-Santos Paulo, Souto-Carneiro M Margarida
Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Largo Marques de Pombal, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal.
Clin Exp Med. 2014 Nov;14(4):423-9. doi: 10.1007/s10238-013-0258-1. Epub 2013 Sep 26.
The function of B cells in the immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is still regarded as secondary, although major findings in mouse models of tuberculosis (TB) support their participation as regulators and antibody producers. However, studies in cohorts of TB or multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients have failed to clearly identify changes in the circulating B cell pool. Therefore, in the present study we aimed at identifying alterations in the different B cell subpopulations in peripheral blood samples of HIV-negative pulmonary MDR-TB patients when compared to healthy donors. The data show, for the first time, that MDR-TB patients, similarly to what has been observed in other chronic inflammatory diseases, have a much lower frequency of peripheral blood unswitched IgD(+)CD27(+) memory B cells. Equally novel are the findings that in MDR-TB patients there is a reduction in the circulating plasma cell pool and that in MDR-TB there is an increased frequency of circulating type 1 transitional IgD(+)CD38(++), CD69(+) and TLR9(+) B cells. These results document disease-related shifts in peripheral blood B cell subsets in MDR-TB and suggest that such changes should be taken into account when designing new strategies to boost the cellular and humoral immune response against Mtb.
尽管结核病小鼠模型的主要研究结果支持B细胞作为调节因子和抗体产生者参与其中，但B细胞在抗结核分枝杆菌（Mtb）免疫反应中的作用仍被视为次要的。然而，针对结核病或耐多药结核病（MDR-TB）患者队列的研究未能明确识别循环B细胞库的变化。因此，在本研究中，我们旨在确定与健康供体相比，HIV阴性的肺MDR-TB患者外周血样本中不同B细胞亚群的改变。数据首次显示，与其他慢性炎症性疾病中观察到的情况类似，MDR-TB患者外周血未转换的IgD(+)CD27(+)记忆B细胞频率要低得多。同样新颖的发现是，MDR-TB患者循环浆细胞库减少，并且在MDR-TB中，循环1型过渡性IgD(+)CD38(++)、CD69(+)和TLR9(+)B细胞的频率增加。这些结果记录了MDR-TB患者外周血B细胞亚群与疾病相关的变化，并表明在设计增强针对Mtb的细胞免疫和体液免疫反应的新策略时应考虑这些变化。
