TY  - JOUR
A1  - Dirks, Johannes
A1  - Fischer, Jonas
A1  - Haase, Gabriele
A1  - Holl-Wieden, Annette
A1  - Hofmann, Christine
A1  - Girschick, Hermann
A1  - Morbach, Henner
T1  - CD21\(^{lo/−}\)CD27\(^−\)IgM\(^−\) Double-Negative B Cells Accumulate in the Joints of Patients With Antinuclear Antibody-Positive Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
JF  - Frontiers in Pediatrics
N2  - Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) encompasses a heterogeneous group of diseases. The appearance of antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) in almost half of the patients suggests B cell dysregulation as a distinct pathomechanism in these patients. Additionally, ANAs were considered potential biomarkers encompassing a clinically homogenous subgroup of JIA patients. However, in ANA+ JIA patients, the site of dysregulated B cell activation as well as the B cell subsets involved in this process is still unknown. Hence, in this cross-sectional study, we aimed in an explorative approach at characterizing potential divergences in B cell differentiation in ANA+ JIA patients by assessing the distribution of peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) B cell subpopulations using flow cytometry. The frequency of transitional as well as switched-memory B cells was higher in PB of JIA patients than in healthy controls. There were no differences in the distribution of B cell subsets between ANA- and ANA+ patients in PB. However, the composition of SF B cells was different between ANA- and ANA+ patients with increased frequencies of CD21\(^{lo/−}\)CD27\(^−\)IgM\(^−\) “double negative” (DN) B cells in the latter. DN B cells might be a characteristic subset expanding in the joints of ANA+ JIA patients and are potentially involved in the antinuclear immune response in these patients. The results of our explorative study might foster further research dissecting the pathogenesis of ANA+ JIA patients.
KW  - juvenile idiopathic arthritis
KW  - B cells
KW  - antinuclear antibodies
KW  - synovial fluid
KW  - double negative B cells
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236286
SN  - 2296-2360
VL  - 9
ER  -