SFTSV infection is associated with transient overproliferation of monoclonal lambda-type plasma cells

Chuansong Quan; Qinghua Liu; Lijuan Yu; Chunjing Li; Kaixiao Nie; Guoyong Ding; Hong Zhou; Xinli Wang; Wenwen Sun; Huiliang Wang; Maokui Yue; Li Wei; Wenjun Zheng; Qiang Lyu; Weijia Xing; Zhenjie Zhang; Michael J Carr; Hong Zhang; Weifeng Shi

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106799

SFTSV infection is associated with transient overproliferation of monoclonal lambda-type plasma cells

iScience. 2023 May 4;26(6):106799. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106799. eCollection 2023 Jun 16.

Authors

Chuansong Quan^{1

2}, Qinghua Liu³, Lijuan Yu², Chunjing Li⁴, Kaixiao Nie², Guoyong Ding⁵, Hong Zhou², Xinli Wang⁶, Wenwen Sun⁶, Huiliang Wang¹, Maokui Yue⁷, Li Wei⁸, Wenjun Zheng², Qiang Lyu⁵, Weijia Xing⁵, Zhenjie Zhang², Michael J Carr^{9

10}, Hong Zhang^{1

4}, Weifeng Shi^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian 271000, China.
² Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases in Universities of Shandong, School of Clinical and Basic Medical Sciences, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Taian, 271000, China.
³ Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian 271000, China.
⁴ Department of Hematology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian 271000, China.
⁵ School of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Ji'nan 250117, China.
⁶ Department of Pathology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian 271000, China.
⁷ Department of Critical Care Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian 271000, China.
⁸ Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian 271000, China.
⁹ National Virus Reference Laboratory, School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland.
¹⁰ International Collaboration Unit, International Institute for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, N20 W10 Kita-ku, Sapporo 001-0020, Japan.

Abstract

The impairment of antibody-mediated immunity is a major factor associated with fatal cases of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS). By collating the clinical diagnosis reports of 30 SFTS cases, we discovered the overproliferation of monoclonal plasma cells (MCP cells, CD38⁺cLambda⁺cKappa^-) in bone marrow, which has only been reported previously in multiple myeloma. The ratio of CD38⁺cLambda⁺ versus CD38⁺cKappa⁺ in SFTS cases with MCP cells was significantly higher than that in normal cases. MCP cells presented transient expression in the bone marrow, which was distinctly different from multiple myeloma. Moreover, the SFTS patients with MCP cells had higher clinical severity. Further, the overproliferation of MCP cells was also observed in SFTS virus (SFTSV)-infected mice with lethal infectious doses. Together, SFTSV infection induces transient overproliferation of monoclonal lambda-type plasma cells, which have important implications for the study of SFTSV pathogenesis, prognosis, and the rational development of therapeutics.

Keywords: Health sciences; Immunity; Immunology; Virology.