title: [Spontaneous immunoglobulin secreting cells in idiopathic usual interstitial pneumonia].
abstract: Abundant evidence suggests that activation of B lymphocytes and formation of immune complexes play important roles in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. We investigated the level of B lymphocyte activation in patients with idiopathic UIP (n = 10, all were biopsy proven cases), for the purpose of evaluating its role. In order to determine the level of B lymphocyte activation, the number of spontaneous immunoglobulin secreting cells in blood was counted by using reverse hemolytic plaque assay. The number of IgA and IgG secreting cells significantly increased in patients with idiopathic UIP when compared with those in healthy controls (n = 8). The number of IgG secreting cells also significantly increased in patients with IP-CVD, but no significant increase in the number of Ig secreting cells could be detected in patients with pulmonary emphysema, diffuse panbronchiolitis or sarcoidosis. The study of cell surface markers revealed significant increase of CD21 (B2 and OKB7) positive cells in patients with idiopathic UIP. CD21 positive cells were immature B lymphocytes. These results suggest that increase of resting B lymphocytes and immunoglobulin secreting cells occurred and that the differentiation of B lymphocytes may be accelerated in idiopathic UIP. Furthermore, there is the possibility that soluble factors produced by T lymphocytes influenced the function of B lymphocytes in our experiment.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Emura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000921:Antibody-Producing Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007136:Immunoglobulins