title: Impaired regulatory B cells in myasthenia gravis.
abstract: Regulatory B cells (Bregs) attenuate the severity of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) in an interleukin-10 (IL-10)-dependent manner. The goal of this study was to investigate the role of human Bregs in MG focusing on CD19(+)CD1d(hi) CD5(+) and CD19(+)CD24(hi)CD38(hi) subsets. We found that MG patients exhibited a decrease in the frequency of both Breg subsets and IL-10 producing B cells within each subset, which correlated with disease severity. In addition, there was impaired suppression of Th1 polarization in MG. These findings, taken together with EAMG data, indicate that Bregs play an important role in regulating the severity of MG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States.
authors.forename: Jian Rong
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States.
authors.forename: Kourosh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rezania
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States. Electronic address: bsoliven@neurology.bsd.uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Soliven
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D060151:B-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic
keywords: B cells; Bregs; Cytokines; IL-10; Immune regulation; Neuromuscular junction disorders