Increased Frequencies of Switched Memory B Cells and Plasmablasts in Peripheral Blood from Patients with ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
Table 5
Frequencies of B cells and subsets in patients with AAV in remission with regard to tendency to relapse.
Phenotype
Tendency to relapse, remission ()
No tendency to relapse, remission ()
value
B cells (% of lymphocytes)
3.51 (2.60-7.20)
6.53 (3.68-9.21)
0.0295
B cells (106/L)a
18.6 (11.0-43.7)
45.4 (25.0-82.1)
0.0037
B cell subsets (% of B cells)
Naive
47.3 (29.5-60.9)
53.7 (32.6-65.9)
ns
Preswitch memory
7.25 (4.40-10.6)
5.68 (3.51-11.2)
ns
Switched memory
23.9 (14.1-32.8)
18.7 (13.0-29.0)
ns
Exhausted memory
21.4 (11.3-25.2)
19.4 (12.8-26.0)
ns
Transitional
0.0900 (0.00-2.34)
1.10 (0.205-3.86)
0.0380
Plasmablasts
0.990 (0.265-2.61)
0.710 (0.383-1.48)
ns
Activated B cells and subsets
CD95+ B cells (% of B cells)
25.3 (12.4-33.9)
16.7 (12.0-29.9)
ns
CD95+ naive (% of naive)
3.43 (1.75-9.46)
2.60 (1.24-5.36)
ns
CD95+ preswitch memory (% of preswitch memory)
29.9 (17.5-38.2)
21.4 (15.9-37.5)
ns
CD95+ switched memory (% of switched memory)
62.1 (52.5-71.8)
59.2 (50.2-72.5)
ns
CD95+ exhausted memory (% of exhausted memory)
30.8 (23.6-47.0)
22.3 (14.1-27.8)
0.0032
Treatment, (%), dose
Prednisolone, mg/day
19 (66) 7.50 (5.00-10.0)
13 (36) 5.00 (2.50-8.75)
ns
Azathioprine, mg/day
13 (45) 100 (75.0-100)
8 (22) 100 (62.5-150)
ns
Methotrexate, mg/week
5 (17) 25.0 (17.5-25.0)
2 (6) 18.8 (12.5-25.0)
Mycophenolate mofetil, mg/day
2 (7) 2000 (2000-2000)
2 (6) 1125 (750-1500)
Cyclophosphamide
2 (7)
2 (6)
No medication
2 (7)
15 (42)
Frequencies of B cells (CD19+ lymphocytes) and subsets analyzed in patients using flow cytometry. The Mann-Whitney test was used to calculate the level of significance. Data are presented with medians and interquartile ranges. AAV: antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody- (ANCA-) associated vasculitis; ns: not significant. a equals 28 (tendency to relapse, remission), 33 (no tendency to relapse, remission) for absolute values.
