Transient Appearance of Plasmablasts in the Peripheral Blood of Japanese Patients With Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome

Toru Takahashi; Tadaki Suzuki; Shunsuke Hiroshige; Shota Nouno; Takuro Matsumura; Takayuki Tominaga; Toshiaki Yujiri; Harutaka Katano; Yuko Sato; Hideki Hasegawa

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiz054

Transient Appearance of Plasmablasts in the Peripheral Blood of Japanese Patients With Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome

J Infect Dis. 2019 Jun 5;220(1):23-27. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiz054.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hematology, Yamaguchi Grand Medical Center, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi.
² Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi.

PMID: 30721983
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz054

Abstract

Atypical lymphocytes in the peripheral blood in patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) have not been well examined. In this study, we analyzed counts and characteristics of atypical lymphocytes in 7 patients with SFTS. Atypical lymphocytes resembled plasma cells morphologically and appeared in the peripheral blood of all patients 4-8 days after onset of disease. Among these lymphocytes flow cytometry showed a CD19+CD38+CD138-/+ phenotype, and immunohistochemical staining revealed a CD79a+CD38+CD138-/+CD27+ phenotype. From our observations, atypical lymphocytes transiently that appeared in the peripheral blood during the acute phase of SFTS were considered to be plasmablasts.

Keywords: SFTS; Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome; atypical lymphocyte; plasmablast.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Antigens, CD / immunology
Asian People
Female
Fever / immunology
Flow Cytometry / methods
Humans
Japan
Lymphocytes / immunology*
Male
Middle Aged
Phenotype
Plasma Cells / immunology*
Thrombocytopenia / immunology*

Substances

Antigens, CD