CD19+ CD24hi CD38hi Regulatory B Cells and Memory B Cells in Periodontitis: Association with Pro-Inflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines

Helal F Hetta; Ibrahim M Mwafey; Gaber El-Saber Batiha; Suliman Y Alomar; Nahed A Mohamed; Maggie A Ibrahim; Abeer Elkady; Ahmed Kh Meshaal; Hani Alrefai; Dina M Khodeer; Asmaa M Zahran

doi:10.3390/vaccines8020340

CD19⁺ CD24^hi CD38^hi Regulatory B Cells and Memory B Cells in Periodontitis: Association with Pro-Inflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines

Vaccines (Basel). 2020 Jun 26;8(2):340. doi: 10.3390/vaccines8020340.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0595, USA.
² Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut 71515, Egypt.
³ Department of Oral Medicine and Periodontology Diagnosis and Oral Radiology, Al-Azhar University, Assiut Branch, Assiut 71524, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicines, Damanhour University, Damanhour 22511, Egypt.
⁵ Doping Research Chair, Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut 71515, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Assiut 71524, Egypt.
⁹ Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
¹⁰ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.
¹¹ Department of Clinical Pathology, South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Assiut 71524, Egypt.

Abstract

Regulatory B cells (Bregs) are unique subpopulations of B cells with immune-regulating or immune-suppressing properties and play a role in peripheral tolerance. Due to the current limitations of human Breg studies among periodontal diseases, in the present study, we tried to analyze the change in circulating Bregs, pro-inflammatory, and anti-inflammatory cytokines in patients with periodontitis. Peripheral blood from 55 patients with stage 2 periodontitis and 20 healthy controls was analyzed using flow cytometry to evaluate the frequency of CD19⁺CD24⁺CD38⁺ Breg cells. ELISA was used to assess the serum levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukins (IL)-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and anti-inflammatory cytokines including IL-10, IL-35, and TGF-β. Increased proportions of Breg cells were observed in patients with stage 2 periodontitis compared to controls. Serum levels of cytokines were significantly higher in patients with periodontitis compared to controls. A significant positive correlation was observed between the frequencies of Breg cells and IL35 levels, IL10 levels, and TGF-β. In conclusion, our results suggest that the increase in peripheral Breg cells and serum cytokine levels among periodontitis patients seems to be closely associated with disease progression, a possible link between periodontitis, and systemic inflammatory process.

Keywords: Breg; cytokines; inflammatory; periodontitis.