Immune regulation and B-cell depletion therapy in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome

B-cell populations and sub-populations in Sjögren's syndrome

“…Strikingly, increased frequencies of CD27À memory B-cells that were class-switched were reported in the blood of SLE patients, and were positively correlated with higher disease activity and increased levels of disease-specific autoantibodies [15]. Our own group reported a significant negative correlation between frequencies and numbers of circulating CD27À B-cells and salivary gland function in pSS patients [16]. Given the fact that IgMÀIgD+CD27À B-cells from healthy individuals were shown to bind to autoantigens, this raises the possibility that the subset of CD27À B-cells may be the precursors of autoantibody secreting plasma cells in autoimmune diseases [16,17].…”

Assessment of flares in lupus patients enrolled in a phase II/III study of rituximab (EXPLORER)

“…К ним в первую очередь отно-сится ритуксимаб (РТМ), представляющий собой химер-ные моноклональные антитела к CD20-антигену, локали-зующемуся на мембране В-клеток, которые вызывают де-плецию (истощение) В-клеток в кровяном русле и в тка-нях [7][8][9]. Данные многочисленных экспериментальных и клинических исследований теоретически обосновыва-ют целесообразность применения РТМ для лечения мно-гих аутоиммунных заболеваний, в первую очередь ревма-тических [10][11][12][13]. В настоящее время РТМ зарегистриро-ван для лечения ревматоидного артрита (РА) [14] и сис-темных некротизирующих васкулитов, связанных с син-тезом антинейтрофильных цитоплазматических аутоан-тител (АНЦА-СВ) [15].…”

NOD.H-2h4 Mice

“…SS is a common autoimmune rheumatic disease that can develop independent of other autoimmune diseases (primary SS), or it can occur in patients with other connective tissue diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and SLE (secondary SS) (Abdulahad, Kroese, Vissink, & Bootsma, 2012;Chiorini, Cihakova, Ouellette, & Caturegli, 2009;Tzioufas, Kapsogeorgou, & Moutsopoulos, 2012). Interestingly, Hashimoto's thyroiditis can be present in about 30% of SS patients (Chiorini et al, 2009), so it is perhaps not surprising that NOD.H-2h4 mice also spontaneously develop SS.…”

“…Autoantibody production is also a hallmark of SS patients. Anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies are commonly seen in patients with SS, and they also produce other autoantibodies, including rheumatoid factor antibodies (Abdulahad et al, 2012;Kyriakidis, Kapsogeorgou, & Tzioufas, 2014). B cell depletion therapies have been used successfully for treating SS in both mice and humans (Abdulahad et al, 2012;Hayakawa, Tedder, & Zhuang, 2007).…”