Alteration of Naïve and Memory B-Cell Subset in Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease Patients After Treatment With Mesenchymal Stromal Cells. (10th July 2014) - Peng, Yanwen
Abstract : The changes in the numbers, phenotypes, and subpopulations of B lymphocytes in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) with different response levels after mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) treatment were investigated. The findings imply that MSCs might exert therapeutic effects in cGVHD patients, accompanied by alterations of naïve and memory B-cell subsets, modulating the plasma B cell-activating factor (BAFF) levels and BAFF receptor expression on B lymphocytes. Abstract: : Although mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) possess immunomodulatory properties and exhibit promising efficacy against chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), little is known about the immune changes by which MSCs ameliorate cGVHD in vivo. Recent studies have suggested that B lymphocytes might play an important role in the pathogenesis of cGVHD. In this study, we investigated changes in the numbers, phenotypes, and subpopulations of B lymphocytes in cGVHD patients who showed a complete response (CR), partial response (PR), or no response (NR) after MSC treatment. We found that the frequencies and numbers of CD27 + memory and pre-germinal center B lymphocytes were significantly increased in the CR and PR cGVHD patients after MSC treatment but decreased in the NR patients. A further analysis of CR/PR cGVHD patients showed that MSC treatment led to a decrease in the plasma levels of B cell-activating factor (BAFF) and increased expression of the BAFF receptor (BAFF-R) on peripheral B lymphocytes but no changes in plasma BAFF levels or BAFF-R expression on B lymphocytes in NR patients. Overall, our findings imply that MSCs might exert therapeutic effects in cGVHD patients, accompanied by alteration of naïve and memory B-cell subsets, modulating plasma BAFF levels and BAFF-R expression on B lymphocytes.