Excessive function of peripheral blood neutrophils from patients with Behçet's disease and from HLA-B51 transgenic mice.
OBJECTIVE
To elucidate the role played by HLA-B51 in the neutrophil hyperfunction of Behçet's disease, we determined the superoxide production by purified peripheral blood neutrophils from Behçet's disease patients, from HLA-B51 positive healthy individuals, and from HLA-B51 transgenic mice.


METHODS
Neutrophil function was evaluated by flow cytometric analysis, detecting the conversion of 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate into dichloroflurescein, induced by superoxide in the neutrophils.


RESULTS
A significant correlation between the neutrophil hyperfunction and the possession of HLA-B51 phenotype, regardless of the presence of the disease, was observed in humans. FMLP-stimulated neutrophils (without in vitro priming) from HLA-B51 transgenic mice, but not those from HLA-B35 transgenic mice or from nontransgenic mice, produced substantial amounts of superoxide.


CONCLUSIONS
The HLA-B51 molecule itself may be responsible, at least in part, for neutrophil hyperfunction in Behçet's disease.
Takeno
M
M
St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan.
Kariyone
A
A
Yamashita
N
N
Takiguchi
M
M
Mizushima
Y
Y
Kaneoka
H
H
Sakane
T
T
D000818:Animals; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D059949:HLA-B51 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013481:Superoxides / Q000097:blood*
D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D059949:HLA-B51 Antigen; D013481:Superoxides