A pilot study on the characteristics of circulating T follicular helper cells in liver transplant recipients |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Treatment and Research Center for Infectious Disease, 302 Military Hospital of China, Peking University Teaching Hospital, Beijing, China;2. Research Center for Liver transplantation, Beijing 302 Hospital, Beijing, China;3. Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui, China;4. Treatment and Research Center for Infectious Disease, Beijing 302 Hospital, Beijing, China;1. Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, San Jose, CA, United States;2. St. Joseph''s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, United States;3. Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States;4. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States;1. Kansai Medical University, Japan;2. Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital, Japan;3. Sapporo Hokuyu Hospital, Japan;4. Meiwa Hospital, Japan;1. Department of Laboratory Methods, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Vídeňská 1958/9, CZ-14021 Prague, Czech Republic;2. Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruská 87, 100 00 Praha 10, Czech Republic;3. Cardiology Clinic, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Vídeňská 1958/9, CZ-14021 Prague, Czech Republic;1. Washington University School of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, United States;2. University of Pennsylvania, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, United States;3. University of Pennsylvania, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, United States |
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| Abstract: | Circulating CD4+ CXCR5+ T follicular helper cells (cTfh) have been demonstrated to be involved in B cell-mediated systemic autoimmune diseases and alloreactive responses following kidney transplantation; however, whether cTfh cells are involved in alloreactive responses after liver transplantation (LT) remains unclear. Our present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of cTfh, as well as CXCR3+ CCR6− Tfh1, CXCR3− CCR6− Tfh2, and CXCR3− CCR6+ Tfh17 subsets in liver allograft recipients. A total of 30 liver transplant recipients were enrolled in this study. The frequencies of cTfh, Tfh1, Tfh2, and Tfh17 subsets, and interleukin (IL)-21-producing Tfh cells in the circulating blood were analyzed by flow cytometry. The capacity of cTfh cells to help B cells differentiate into plasmablasts was determined one day before and one month after LT. The results revealed that the frequency of cTfh cells remained unaltered before and after LT. However, the frequency of the cTfh subsets (e.g., Tfh1 and Tfh2 cells) and B cells were reduced one month after LT. Functionally, the capacity of Tfh cells to produce IL-21 was reduced one month after LT. In addition, cTfh cells exhibited the capacity to help B cells differentiate into plasmablasts in an IL-21-dependent manner in vitro, which was reduced after LT, despite the unaltered production of IgM and IgG by plasmablasts. Thus, our data suggest that cTfh cells may be involved in alloreactive responses following LT via helping B cells differentiate into plasmablasts and plasma cells. |
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