title: Memory B-cells in healthy and antibody-deficient children.
abstract: Recently it has become clear that a reduction of IgD-CD27+ memory B-cells in adult CVID patients correlates with clinical aspects of the disease. However, little is known about B-cell dysregulation in pediatric antibody deficiency. Reference values are essential for the interpretation of B-cell subpopulations in children. We present the clinical and immunophenotypical characterization of 16 children and adolescents with CVID and hypogammaglobulinemia. Reference values for IgD+CD27-, IgD+CD27+ and IgD-CD27+ B-cells in healthy children were established for five age groups. In healthy controls we found a continuous increase in IgD-CD27+ B-cell percentage with age from 1.35-5% of B-cells in the second year of life to 4.1-18.7% in adolescents. Interestingly, in 12/14 antibody-deficient patients memory B-cells are significantly below the age-related 10th percentile. We conclude that the reduction of memory B-cells is a useful additional marker for the detection of children with CVID hypogammaglobulinemia and may contribute to the early presentation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Clinical Immunology, Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huck
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Feyen
authors.forename: Sujal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beltz
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bellert
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niehues
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000361:Agammaglobulinemia / Q000276:immunology*; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017074:Common Variable Immunodeficiency / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory / Q000276:immunology*; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values