In:
rheuma plus, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 21, No. 3 ( 2022-06), p. 166-170
Abstract:
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic relapsing courses and a wide spectrum of clinical presentations. B‑lymphocytes are thought to play a major role in the initiation and maintenance of the disease due to their exaggerated response with impaired autoantibody production. Based on our better understanding of this disease and more accurate laboratory diagnostics, the American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) classification criteria were revised in 2019 to allow an identification of patients even in the early stages of SLE. In contrast to the diagnostic approach, new therapeutic approaches have had limited success. Our research group is intensively involved in the characterization of B‑cell subpopulations, their correlation with SLE activity, and how drug therapy might alter their composition. A first step was to identify the different B‑cell subpopulations in the peripheral blood (naïve B‑cells, pre- and post-switch B‑cells, memory B‑cells and plasmablasts [precursor of plasma cells]) in patients with low disease activity and how the distribution of these subsets might predict long-term SLE activity. The analyses showed that patients with high levels of naïve B‑cells in the peripheral blood had moderate to high SLE-activity after 3 years. Thus, the therapeutic target in SLE would not only be a reduction of the disease activity but also a diminution of the naïve B‑cell population. Further prospective studies are necessary to test this hypothesis.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1868-260X
,
2191-2610
DOI:
10.1007/s12688-021-00484-1
Language:
German
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2612368-X
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