In:
Blood, American Society of Hematology, Vol. 112, No. 11 ( 2008-11-16), p. 4911-4911
Abstract:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV), being lymphotrophic as well as hepatotrophic, has been reported to induce B-cell proliferative disorders such as mixed cryoglobulinemia and B-cell lymphoma. To investigate the association between HCV and B-cell proliferation, we evaluated the incidence and characteristics of monoclonal B cells in the circulating blood of HCV-infected cases relative to controls with non-HCV hepatic diseases. We first evaluated the surface immunoglobulin κ:λ light-chain ratios of the circulating B (CD19+) cells in 240 HCV-infected cases and 150 controls. Light chain restriction (κ:λ ratio & gt;3:1 or & lt; 1:2) was detected in 7 cases with HCV (2.9%) (Table 1), but was never detected in the controls (p & lt;0.05). As these monoclonal B cells were not identified morphologically, they were analyzed for CD5/CD20 expression. None of them showed the so-called chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)-phenotype cells. The clonal and normal B cells did not differ significantly in their intensity of CD5 expression (Figure 1). The B-cell clonality was confirmed in all 7 cases by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IgH) gene rearrangements and the t(14;18) fusion gene was detected in one case. The loss of clonality was observed in 2 cases treated with interferon and in one case treated with splenectomy. The longitudinal study is required to determine whether these circulating monoclonal B cells progress to lymphoproliferative disorders or not. Table 1. The clinical data of the 7 HCV-infected cases with monoclonal H cells Case No Age Sex WBC count./ul Lymphocyte count./ul CD19+ cells in lymphocytes. % Light chain κ/λ. CD5+B cell. % Cryoglobulin IFN therapy 1 78 M 2,800 710 26.46 κ 33.59 17.45 (+) (−) 2 65 M 3,400 720 5.41 λ 0.23 15.93 (−) (+) 3 84 M 5,700 3,520 46.68 κ 11.31 6.8 (+) (−) 4 74 F 3,300 1,750 15.01 λ 0.037 46.31 (−) (−) 5 65 F 2,500 580 34.46 κ 8.07 40.17 (+) (−) 6 72 F 2,000 940 25.4 λ 0.198 38.77 (−) + 7 66 M 4,200 1,380 9.73 λ 0.41 3.53 (+) (−) Figure 1. The three groups did not differ significantly in the frequency of CD5+ B cells (mean±SEM: group1, 24.14±6.55; group2, 30.27±1.69; group3, 28.53±1.93). Figure 1. The three groups did not differ significantly in the frequency of CD5+ B cells (mean±SEM: group1, 24.14±6.55; group2, 30.27±1.69; group3, 28.53±1.93).
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0006-4971
,
1528-0020
DOI:
10.1182/blood.V112.11.4911.4911
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Society of Hematology
Publication Date:
2008
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1468538-3
detail.hit.zdb_id:
80069-7
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