ABSTRACT
Here we present evidence for previously unappreciated B-cell immune dysregulation during acute Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated infectious mononucleosis (IM). Longitudinal analyses revealed that patients with acute IM have undetectable EBV-specific neutralizing antibodies and gp350-specific B-cell responses, which were associated with a significant reduction in memory B cells and no evidence of circulating antibody-secreting cells. These observations correlate with dysregulation of tumor necrosis factor family members BAFF and APRIL and increased expression of FAS on circulating B cells.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , B-Lymphocytes/immunology , Herpesvirus 4, Human/immunology , Infectious Mononucleosis/immunology , B-Cell Activating Factor/immunology , B-Lymphocytes/virology , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , Capsid Proteins/immunology , Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/immunology , Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/virology , Humans , Immunologic Memory/immunology , Infectious Mononucleosis/virology , Lymphocyte Activation/immunology , Tumor Necrosis Factor Ligand Superfamily Member 13/immunology , Viral Matrix Proteins/immunology , fas Receptor/metabolismABSTRACT
Acute infectious mononucleosis (IM) is associated with altered expression of inflammatory cytokines and disturbed T-cell homeostasis, however, the precise mechanism of this immune dysregulation remains unresolved. In the current study we demonstrated a significant loss of circulating myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (DCs) during acute IM, a loss correlated with the severity of clinical symptoms. In vitro exposure of blood DCs to acute IM plasma resulted in loss of plasmacytoid DCs, and further studies with individual cytokines showed that exposure to interleukin 10 could replicate this effect. Our data provide important mechanistic insight into dysregulated immune homeostasis during acute IM.
