Hetta Helal F, Mohamed Alaa A A, Zahran Asmaa M, A Mahran Safaa, My Sayed Marwa, Ga Saleh Mohamed, Abdelazeem Khaled, Batiha Gaber El-Saber, Al-Rejaie Salim, Waheed Yasir, Muhammad Khalid, M Hassanien Manal
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
J Inflamm Res. 2021 Mar 8;14:737-744. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S279912. eCollection 2021.
The data about the role of regulatory B cells (Breg) in Behcet Disease (BD) are scarce. We aimed to evaluate the frequency of total B lymphocytes and Breg cells in different BD phenotypes and therapies attempting to unravel their function.
This cross-sectional study included 35 BD patients and 39 healthy controls (HCs). The demographic data of the study subjects were collected including age and gender. Current medications including disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were recorded. All patients underwent testing for baseline laboratory investigations including full blood count, liver and kidney function tests, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) by Westergren blot and C-reactive protein (CRP). Measurement of the total B lymphocytes and their subtypes B regulatory lymphocytes by flow cytometric assay. Assessment of BD activity was done using the revised Behçet's Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF) 2006 and Behçet's Syndrome Activity Score (BSAS) . All participants were assessed for the presence of erectile dysfunction using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5 score), and for depression using the Beck Depression Inventory.
A dramatic drop in the number of B cells, total and regulatory, was observed in the patients compared to the HCs. Regulatory cells (Bregs) tend to be upregulated with genital ulcers or vascular disease. Bregs but not B lymphocytes were associated with BSAS and ESR. Neither the total B lymphocytes nor the Bregs correlated with CRP or the sexual function or depression scores. Of all the used medications, low-dose aspirin was seen with markedly high Bregs proportions.
This study supports the role of B cells in BD pathogenesis and strongly suggests a possible role for Bregs in the resolution of different BD manifestations.
关于调节性B细胞（Breg）在白塞病（BD）中作用的数据较少。我们旨在评估不同BD表型和治疗方法中总B淋巴细胞和Breg细胞的频率，试图阐明它们的功能。
这项横断面研究纳入了35例BD患者和39名健康对照（HCs）。收集了研究对象的人口统计学数据，包括年龄和性别。记录了当前使用的药物，包括改善病情抗风湿药（DMARDs）。所有患者均接受了基线实验室检查，包括全血细胞计数、肝肾功能检查、魏氏血沉率（ESR）和C反应蛋白（CRP）。通过流式细胞术检测总B淋巴细胞及其亚型B调节性淋巴细胞。使用2006年修订的白塞病当前活动表（BDCAF）和白塞综合征活动评分（BSAS）评估BD活动。使用国际勃起功能指数（IIEF-5评分）评估所有参与者是否存在勃起功能障碍，并使用贝克抑郁量表评估是否存在抑郁。
与HCs相比，患者中观察到B细胞（包括总B细胞和调节性B细胞）数量急剧下降。调节性细胞（Bregs）在生殖器溃疡或血管疾病时往往上调。Bregs而非B淋巴细胞与BSAS和ESR相关。总B淋巴细胞和Bregs均与CRP、性功能或抑郁评分无关。在所有使用的药物中，低剂量阿司匹林与明显较高的Bregs比例相关。
本研究支持B细胞在BD发病机制中的作用，并强烈提示Bregs在不同BD表现的缓解中可能发挥作用。
