Karlsen Marie, Hansen Torbjørn, Nordal Hilde H, Brun Johan G, Jonsson Roland, Appel Silke
Broegelmann Research Laboratory, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
PLoS One. 2015 Mar 19;10(3):e0120383. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120383. eCollection 2015.
Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a rheumatic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of exocrine glands. As autoantibodies are present in a majority of patients, B cells have been suggested to play an important role in onset and development of the disease. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pattern recognition receptors triggering innate immune responses. Since an increased expression of TLRs has been detected in other rheumatic diseases the purpose of this study was to explore TLRs in B cells of SS patients.
The expression of TLR-7 and -9 in B cell subsets of 25 patients with primary SS (pSS) and 25 healthy controls was analysed in peripheral blood using flow cytometry and real time quantitative PCR.
We detected similar levels of CD19+ B cells in pSS patients and healthy controls. An increased number of naïve B cells, as well as fewer pre-switched memory B cells were found in pSS patients. No significant differences were observed in TLR-7 and -9 expression in B cells between pSS patients and healthy controls.
This study shows that pSS patients have an alteration in the B cell subpopulation composition compared to controls, with less pre-switched memory B cells and more naïve B cells. We did not detect any significant disparities in TLR-7 and -9 expression between the two groups.
干燥综合征（SS）是一种以腺体外分泌炎症为特征的风湿性自身免疫性疾病。由于大多数患者体内存在自身抗体，因此有人认为B细胞在该疾病的发生和发展中起重要作用。Toll样受体（TLR）是触发先天免疫反应的模式识别受体。鉴于在其他风湿性疾病中已检测到TLR表达增加，本研究旨在探讨干燥综合征患者B细胞中的TLR。
采用流式细胞术和实时定量PCR分析25例原发性干燥综合征（pSS）患者和25例健康对照外周血B细胞亚群中TLR-7和-9的表达。
我们在pSS患者和健康对照中检测到相似水平的CD19 + B细胞。pSS患者中幼稚B细胞数量增加，而转换前记忆B细胞数量减少。pSS患者和健康对照之间B细胞中TLR-7和-9的表达未观察到显著差异。
本研究表明，与对照组相比，pSS患者的B细胞亚群组成发生改变，转换前记忆B细胞减少，幼稚B细胞增多。我们未检测到两组之间TLR-7和-9表达的任何显著差异。
