Abstract
BackgroundCD72, a co-receptor of B cell receptor (BCR), has been reported to have both positive and negative effects on B cell functions in several immunological diseases. The B cell plays an important role in the pathogenesis of primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS). However, whether CD72 is involved in the process remains unknown. This study aimed to observe the possible role of CD72 in the pathogenesis of pSS.ResultsA total of 60 cases who fulfilled the American-European Consensus Group (AECG) criteria for the diagnosis of pSS and 61 gender and age-matched healthy controls were recruited in this study. The percentage of CD72+ B cells was 85.31 ± 8.37% in pSS patients and 76.91 ± 8.50% in healthy controls(p < 0.001). The percentage of CD72+ B cells was correlated to serum IgG levels in patients [β = 0.018(0.001–0.036), p = 0.034]. The level of serum soluble CD72 was significantly higher in pSS patients than the one in healthy controls (0.41 (0.29) vs 0.07 (0.08) ng/mL, p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe percentage of CD72+ B cells was upregulated in pSS patients and was correlated to the serum IgG level, which revealed the hyperactivity of B cells in this disease. The serum soluble CD72 level was also increased in pSS patients. These results indicated a potential role of CD72 in the pathogenesis of pSS.
Highlights
CD72, a co-receptor of B cell receptor (BCR), has been reported to have both positive and negative effects on B cell functions in several immunological diseases
We investigated the expression of CD72 on B cells as well as the serum soluble CD72 level in pSS patients, and explored whether the CD72 expression is correlated to patients’ clinical features, in order to identify the potential function of this molecular in the pathogenesis of primary Sjogren’s syndrome
CD72 expression on B cells According to our results, the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD72 on CD19+ B cells was slightly but not statistically higher in pSS patients compared to that in healthy controls (11,421.86 ± 3725.03 vs 10, 350.81 ± 1451.95, p = 0.14)
Summary
CD72, a co-receptor of B cell receptor (BCR), has been reported to have both positive and negative effects on B cell functions in several immunological diseases. Primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) is a systemic autoimmune epithelitis characterized by heterogenous clinical manifestations, ranging from xerostomia and xerophthalmia to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) [1, 2]. It affects 0.01–0.1% of the population and has a major impact on patients’ quality of life [3,4,5]. B cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) [6]. CD40-induced B cell proliferation was enhanced by ligation of CD72 with
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