Immunohistology of ectopic secondary lymph follicles in subcutaneous nodules from patients with hyperreactive onchocerciasis (sowda)

Ectopic secondary lymph follicles emerge in patients with autoimmune or infectious diseases, e.g. in the synovium in rheumatoid arthritis or the skin in Borrelia burgdorferi infection, but ectopic localisations in the skin are rarely described for helminth infections. We investigated the cellular composition of secondary lymph follicles in subcutaneous nodules from eight patients with hyperreactive onchocerciasis (synonymous “localised” form or sowda) using immunohistology. CD3- and CD45RO-positive T cells and CD20-positive B cells were present in the mantle zone. The germinal centre was characterised by many B cells and CD35-positive follicular dendritic cells, which formed a network of attached IgE- and CD23-positive cells with the low-affinity IgE (epsilon) receptor. Few of the B cells were labelled for IgG1, IgG2 and IgG4, whereas in other zones of the nodule IgG1 was expressed by plasma cells and IgG1-coated dead microfilariae. B cells and few macrophages expressed the MHC class II molecule HLA-DR. Mature CD68-positive tingible body macrophages with phagocytosed leukocytes and CD57-positive lymphocytes occurred in the germinal centre. Macrophages in the germinal centre only weakly expressed alpha1-antichymotrypsin in contrast to macrophages in other zones of the onchocercoma. Furthermore, the multifunctional cytokine TGF-beta was only weakly expressed by macrophages and lymphocytes in the secondary follicles. Only few tryptase-positive mast cells, calprotectin-positive young macrophages, eosinophils and neutrophils occurred in the secondary follicles, although these cells were abundant in the onchocercomas. In conclusion, the ectopic secondary lymph follicles in onchocercomas and lymph nodes from hyperreactive onchocerciasis patients are equally composed. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00436-010-1912-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.