Impact of folic acid on regulatory B lymphocytes from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in vitro.

Background: Epigenetic modifications of genomes are of particular interest as numerous studies indicate the correlation between DNA methylation and the development of systemic lupus. As a major methyl group donor, folic acid is an important participant in this process. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of low or high dose folate co-culturing with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) on the secretion of interleukin (IL)10 from regulatory cells from lupus patients or from healthy volunteers.