Image1_The rapid inhibition of B-cell activation markers by belimumab was associated with disease control in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.JPEG (3.29 MB)

Image1_The rapid inhibition of B-cell activation markers by belimumab was associated with disease control in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.JPEG

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posted on 2023-02-16, 05:55 authored by Jing Wang, Bomiao Ju, Li Zhu, Hanchao Li, Jing Luo, Jing Zhang, Nan Hu, Lingfei Mo, Yanhua Wang, Ying Pan, Jing Huang, Xiaohong Lv, Dan Pu, Zhiming Hao, Lan He, Yuanyuan Li

Objective: To examine the kinetics of B cell subsets and activation markers in the early stage of belimumab treatment and their correction with treatment response.

Methods: We enrolled 27 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients receiving 6 months belimumab treatment. Flow cytometry was used to test their B cell subsets and activation markers (including CD40, CD80, CD95, CD21^low, CD22, p-SYK and p-AKT).

Results: During belimumab treatment, SLEDAI-2K declined, the proportions of CD19⁺ B cells and naïve B cells decreased, whereas the switched memory B cells and non-switched B cells increased. The larger variations of the B cell subsets and the activation markers were in the first 1 month than the other later time frames. The ratio of p-SYK/p-AKT on non-switched B cell at 1 month was associated with the SLEDAI-2K decline rate in the 6 months of belimumab treatment.

Conclusion: B cell hyperactivity was rapidly inhibited in the early stage of belimumab treatment, and the ratio of p-SYK/p-AKT may predict SLEDAI-2K decline.

Clinical Trial Registration:https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04893161?term=NCT04893161&draw=2&rank=1; identifier: NCT04893161.