Pre-B lymphocytes with intracytoplasmic mu chains in the peripheral blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients.
A dysregulation of B-cell differentiation and activation has long been evidenced in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Such analyses have, however, usually focused on the latest stages of B-cell development. Using a classical technique of immunofluorescence labeling on cytospins, we investigated the presence of peripheral pre-B lymphocytes in 92 RA patients and 23 controls. Cells with intracytoplasmic mu chains were evidenced in 58.7% of the RA patients studied, ranging between 0 and 30%, while small numbers of c-mu cells, never exceeding 6% of peripheral blood lymphocytes, were observed in 9 controls. Relationships between this feature and clinical or laboratory data were investigated, showing a negative correlation between the percentage of c-mu + lymphocytes and Ritchie's index (P = 0.05), the number of tender or swollen joints (P = 0.05), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P = 0.005), seropositivity (P = 0.05), and disease duration (P = 0.01).
Guillemin
F
F
Clinique Rhumatologique, CHU NANCY-Brabois, France.
Bene
M C
MC
Aussedat
R
R
Klein
J M
JM
Sahmani
K
K
Gaucher
A
A
Faure
G C
GC
Pourel
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007148:Immunoglobulin mu-Chains / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D007148:Immunoglobulin mu-Chains