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The IL-10-producing regulatory B cells (B10 cells) and regulatory T cell subsets in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder

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Abstract

B cells contribute to the pathogenesis of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) by producing Aquaporin 4-specific autoantibodies (AQP4-ab); on the other hand, there are certain B cells that suppress immune responses by producing regulatory cytokines, such as IL-10. In this study, we investigated the presence of IL-10-producing Breg cells among lymphocyte subsets. Twenty-two seropositive NMO spectrum disorder (NMOSD) patients (29 samples) and 13 healthy controls (HCs) (14 samples) were enrolled. All NMOSD patients have received one or more immunosuppressive drugs. The phenotype and frequency of B cell and T cell subsets in the peripheral blood were measured by flow cytometry. We defined Breg cells as IL-10-producing B (B10) cells, which are CD19+CD39+CD1d+IL-10+. The potential relations were evaluated between specific lymphocyte subsets and AQP4-ab intensity measured by the cell-based indirect immunofluorescence assay. The frequency of B10 cells was higher in patients with NMOSD regardless of the disease status than that in HCs (attack samples; p = 0.009 and remission samples; p < 0.001, respectively). In addition, the frequency of IL-17+ Treg cells among Treg cells was higher during remission than during an attack (uncorrected p = 0.032). Among the lymphocyte subsets, B10 cells alone showed a positive correlation with the intensity of AQP4-ab positivity (ρ [rho] = 0.402 and p = 0.031). It was suggested that the suppressive subsets including B10 and IL-17+ Treg cells might have important roles in controlling disease status in NMOSD. Further functional studies may help to elucidate the immunological role of B10 and IL-17+ Treg cells in NMOSD.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education (2016R1D1A1B03934476). These funding sources were not involved in the creation of the study protocol, in data analysis, or in writing the manuscript.

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  1. Eun Bin Cho and Hye-Jin Cho contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Changwon, South Korea

    Eun Bin Cho

  2. Department of Neurology, Bucheon St Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon, South Korea

    Hye-Jin Cho

  3. Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Cheonan Hospital, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, South Korea

    Jin Myoung Seok

  4. Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, South Korea

    Ju-Hong Min & Byoung Joon Kim

  5. Neuroscience Center, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea

    Ju-Hong Min & Byoung Joon Kim

  6. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Eun-Suk Kang

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  1. Eun Bin Cho
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Correspondence to Eun-Suk Kang or Byoung Joon Kim.

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Cho, E.B., Cho, HJ., Seok, J.M. et al. The IL-10-producing regulatory B cells (B10 cells) and regulatory T cell subsets in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. Neurol Sci 39, 543–549 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-018-3248-y

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