Changes of B cell subsets characterized with CD27 and CD38 phenotypes in peripheral blood of myasthenia gravis patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of peripheral B cell subsets with CD27 and CD38 phenotypes in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients. Methods Peripheral blood samples of 43 MG patients and 38 healthy controls from January 2016 to December 2018 were collected. Peripheral CD27⁺ CD38^-, CD27⁺ CD38⁺, CD27^-CD38⁺ and CD27^-CD38^-B cells were detected through flow cytometer and tricolor fluorescence labeling. Results Percentages of CD27⁺ CD38^- and CD27⁺ CD38⁺ B cells were increased (P = 0.000, 0.000), while percentage of CD27^-CD38⁺ B cells was decreased in MG patients compared with those in controls (P = 0.001). The percentage of CD27⁺ CD38⁺ B cells was higher in generalized GMG patients than that in OMG patients (P = 0.031). However, patients with thymoma had lower percentage of CD27^-CD38⁺B cells than that in patients with normal thymus (P = 0.026). CD27⁺ CD38^- and CD27⁺ CD38⁺ B cells were enriched in patients with myasthenic crisis compared with patients without crisis (P = 0.017, 0.011). In addition, after treatment of methylprednisolone, the Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Score (QMGS) was decreased (P = 0.012), the CD27⁺ CD38⁺ B cells reduced (P = 0.034) and CD27⁺ CD38^-B cells elevated (P = 0.006). Meanwhile, percentage of CD27⁺ CD38^-B cells was postively correlated with disease severity in MG patients (r_s = 0.394, P = 0.009). Conclusions Abnormal changes of B cell subsets with CD27 and CD38 phenotypes were observed and closely associated with disease severity in MG patients. All of these findings suggested that aberrancy of B cell subsets may be involved in the progression of MG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]