ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the expression of B-cell activating factor ( BAFF ) and its specific receptor BAFF-R in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin′s lymphoma ( B-NHL) and to analyze the cor-relations between BAFF and the development of B-NHL.Methods RTQ-PCR and Western blot assay were used to measure the expression of BAFF and its specific receptor BAFF-R in patients with B-NHL.Fluores-cence immunocytochemical staining was used to determine the localization of BAFF and BAFF-R in Raji cells, a B-NHL cell line.The expression of BAFF in tumor tissues from patients with B-NHL of different his-tologic subtypes was measured by immunohistochemistry.WST proliferation and TUNEL assays were used to evaluate the effects of BAFF and BAFF-R on the proliferation, survival rate and apoptosis of Raji cells.Lin-ear correlations between the concentrations of lactate dehydrogenase ( LDH) and the expression of BAFF and BAFF at mRNA and protein levels in patients with B-NHL were analyzed.Results BAFF and its specific receptor BAFF-R were expressed in Raji cells and played an important role in the survival and proliferation of B-NHL cell line.The expression of BAFF in tumor cells from patients with B-NHL varied with the different histologic subtypes of B-NHL.Patients with small B-cell malignant lymphoma, large B-cell lymphoma ( LBCL) , mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma ( MALT lymphoma) and follicular lymphoma showed higher levels of BAFF, while those with mantle cell lymphoma showed lower levels of BAFF.Compared with the healthy subjects, patients with B-NHL showed significantly increased expression of BAFF at mRNA and protein levels.The levels of LDH were closely related to the expression of BAFF at mRNA and protein lev-els.Conclusion BAFF and its specific receptor BAFF-R might play an important role in the growth and survival of malignant B cells.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: BAFF (B cell-activating factor) and APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) are members of the tumor necrosis factor family and promote B cell survival and proliferation. We evaluated the correlation between serum concentration of BAFF or APRIL and severity of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). METHODS: Fifteen patients who received allogeneic hematopoietic stem transplantation for leukemia and developed acute GVHD were enrolled. We determined serum concentrations of BAFF and APRIL at the onset of the first clinical manifestation of GVHD by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Nine patients had grade 2 acute GVHD, and 6 had grade 3-4 acute GVHD. The BAFF serum concentration was higher in patients with grade 3-4 acute GVHD (1,093.42 in grade 2 vs. 2,171.99 pg/mL in grade 3-4), although the difference was not significant (P=0.077). However, the ratio of BAFF serum concentration to absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) (BAFF/ALC) was significantly higher in patients with grade 3-4 acute GVHD (P=0.045). The APRIL serum concentration and APRIL/ALC ratio showed similar results (P=0.077 and P=0.013, respectively). CONCLUSION: Patients with grade 3-4 acute GVHD had higher BAFF/ALC and APRIL/ALC ratios than patients with grade 2 acute GVHD. These findings suggest that B cells might play an important role in the development of acute GVHD, and that the BAFF and APRIL concentrations in serum might be significant predictive factors for estimating the severity of acute GVHD. Their clinical significance should be further evaluated in a larger patient population.
Subject(s)
Humans , B-Lymphocytes , Cell Survival , Graft vs Host Disease , Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation , Hematopoietic Stem Cells , Leukemia , Lymphocyte Count , Transplants , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alphaABSTRACT
Objective To study the expression and significance of B-cell activating factor(BAFF) and a proliferation-inducing ligand(APRIL) in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpur(ITP). Methods The serum levels of BAFF and APRIL in 27 cases with ITP were tested by ELISA.Results ①The serum levels of BAFF in ITP were higher than those of control group (3.92?1.88?g/ml vs 2.90?0.52?g/ml,P