The Role Of Regulatory B Cells In Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders

[Objective]Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders are a spectrum of disorders that characterized by severe optic neuritis and longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis.The epidemiological characteristics of this group of disorders are global distribution,female predilection and high incidence rate.With the discovery of serum anti-aquaporin-4(AQP4)antibody in NMOSDs,the humoral mechanisms are believed plays an important role in the pathogenesis of this disease.Regulatory B cells keep the immune balance and suppress the immunopathology by producing interleukin-10(IL-10),IL-35 and so on.To explore the amounts and potentialfunction of regulatory B cells in NMOSDs,we compared the percentage of Bregs in CD19+ cells,the concentration of serum IL 10 and IL6 between NMOSDs patients and healthy controls.[Methods]26 NMOSDs patients and 27 controls were enrolled in our study.The percentage of peripheral CD19+CD24hiCD38hi B cells in CD19+ cells was measured by flowcytometry.The concentration of serum IL10 and IL6 was detected by ELISA.[Results]In our study,we found that the percentage of peripheral CD19+CD24hiCD38hi Bregs was significantly decreased in NMOSDs(P=0.0099).The level of serum IL10 was decreased in NMOSDs(P=0.009),while another cytokine IL 6 was increased in NMOSDs(P=0.0363).The level of plasma IL10 cytokines of patients was correlated with the percentage of CD19+CD24hiCD38hi Bregs.[Conclusion]Our results confirmed that CD19+CD24hi CD38 hi Bregs may be a biomarker in predicting recurrence and evaluating therapeutic efficacy of NMOSDs.