Alterations in exhausted and classical memory B cells in lupus nephritis - Relationship with disease relapse.

Introduction: B cell exhaustion is a functional abnormality of B lymphocytes observed in chronic infections and shows association with autoreactivity. The role of exhausted and classical memory B cells in maintaining disease stability of lupus nephritis (LN) remains unclear.

Methods: We measured classical memory (CD19CD21CD27), exhausted B cells (CD19CD21CD27), and related cytokines in LN patients with multiple relapses (MR) (n = 15) and no relapse (NR) (n = 15) during disease remission.

Device-assisted continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis: A single-centre experience.

Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients with impaired hand-eye function require helper assistance. Our centre developed a connection device that assists patients with impaired hand-eye function to perform PD exchange themselves, but the clinical outcomes in these patients have not been investigated.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients who had device-assisted continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) during 2007-2016 and compared their clinical outcomes with age- and sex-matched patients receiving helper-assisted CAPD.