Alterations on peripheral blood B cell subsets induced by allergic rhinitis.

Objectives And Design: Here we evaluated whether allergic rhinitis to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus induces alterations on circulating B cell subsets.

Materials And Methods: Circulating B cell subsets and isotype expression on antigen-experienced B cells from allergic patients under conventional pharmacological treatment (NO-SIT, n = 15) and under subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT, n = 33), and non-allergic subjects (NC, n = 25) were analyzed by flow cytometry.

Results: In allergic patients, we found a significant decrease in IgM(+) and IgG(+) memory B cells and an increase in IgA(+) memory B cells.

Alterations in the peripheral blood B cell subpopulations of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients.

The function of B cells in the immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is still regarded as secondary, although major findings in mouse models of tuberculosis (TB) support their participation as regulators and antibody producers. However, studies in cohorts of TB or multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients have failed to clearly identify changes in the circulating B cell pool. Therefore, in the present study we aimed at identifying alterations in the different B cell subpopulations in peripheral blood samples of HIV-negative pulmonary MDR-TB patients when compared to healthy donors.