High frequencies of activated B cells and T follicular helper cells are correlated with disease activity in patients with new-onset rheumatoid arthritis

This study aimed to examine the frequency of different subsets of circulating B and T follicular helper (Tfh) cells in patients with new-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and following standard therapies. Twenty-five RA patients and 15 healthy controls (HC) were recruited for characterizing the frequency of CD27(+), immunoglobulin (Ig)D+, CD86(+), CD95(+), Toll-like receptor (TLR)-9(+) B cells and inducible T cell co-stimulator (ICOS) and programmed death 1 (PD-1)-positive Tfh cells and the level of serum interleukin (IL)-21. The potential correlation between the frequency of different subsets of B and Tfh cells and the values of clinical measures in RA patients was analysed. In comparison with HC, significantly higher percentages of circulating IgD(+)CD27(-)CD19(+) naive B, CD86(+)CD19(+) and CD95(+)CD19(+) activated B, CD3(+)CD4(+)CXCR5(+), CD3(+)CD4(+)CXCR5(+)ICOS(+), CD3(+)CD4(+)CXCR5(+)PD-1(+) and CD3(+)CD4(+)CXCR5(+)ICOS(+)PD-1(+) Tfh cells but lower IgD(+)CD27(+)CD19(+) preswitch memory B cells were detected, accompanied by significantly higher levels of serum IL-21 in the RA patients. Furthermore, the percentages of CD95(+) B cells were correlated positively with the frequency of PD-1(+) Tfh cells, but negatively with ICOS+ Tfh cells. The percentages of CD86(+) B cells and ICOS+ Tfh cells were correlated positively with the values of disease activity score 28 (DAS28). Following the drug therapies for 1 month, the percentages of CD86(+) B and PD-1(+) Tfh cells were reduced significantly in the drug-responding patients. Our data suggest that activated B and Tfh cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of RA and the frequency of activated B and Tfh cells may be used as biomarkers for evaluating the therapeutic responses of individual patients with RA.