Significant elevation of the levels of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) in patients with sarcoidosis.

B-cell activating factor (BAFF) plays an important role in the survival and differentiation of B-cells and production of antibodies. Recent studies show that the serum BAFF levels are elevated in patients with sarcoidosis; however, they have not studied the relationship of the finding with the clinical features of the disease. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the BAFF and to elucidate the relationship between BAFF levels and the disease activity or severity of sarcoidosis. Eighty-eight patients with sarcoidosis and 21 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the present study. The BAFF levels were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To assess the disease severity, we examined the number of affected organs, Schadding stages, respiratory function impairment (RFI), and the scoring system developed by Wasfi et al. The serum BAFF levels in sarcoidosis patients were significantly higher than those in healthy volunteers (median 1553.0 vs 984.6 pg/ml, p < 0.001). There were positive correlations between the serum BAFF level and disease activity markers. In addition, there were positive correlations between the BAFF levels and the disease severity score in both the serum (R = 0.367, p < 0.001) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) (R = 0.376, p < 0.001). This study demonstrated that the BAFF levels in both the serum and BALF were positively correlated with the disease activity markers and disease severity. BAFF may be useful as an indicator of both the disease activity and severity.

Protective effects of p-nitrophenylalanine-containing BAFF vaccine on lupus nephritis model mice / 中国药科大学学报

In order to verify whether p-nitrophenylalanine-containing BAFF vaccine can be used as a candidate molecule for the treatment of autoimmune diseases with BAFF over-expression,a soluble mutant of B cell activating factor belonging to the TNF Family (smBAFF) and its pNO2Phe mutant(pNO2Phe65smBAFF),which site specific incorporated pNO2Phe at position 65 of smBAFF,were expressed and purified.In order to evaluate the feasibility of using pNO2Phe65 smBAFF to treat BAFF-over-expressed autoimmune diseases,we investigate its Lymphocyte-stimulating capacity,immunogenicity and inhibitory effect of serum on biological activity of natural BAFF.The pharmacological activity of pNO2Phe65 smBAFF was evaluated using a cGVHD(graft-versus-host disease) induced SLE mouse model.Results indicated that pNO2Phe65 smBAFF,could bind to mouse lymphocytes but could not promote the proliferation of mouse lymphocytes.Moreover,the incorporation of pNO2Phe significantly increased the immunogenicity and induced cross-antibody,which can inhibit the biological activity of natural BAFF.In cGVHD induced SLE mouse model,pNO2Phe65 smBAFF can significantly reduce the symptoms of the disease and play a therapeutic role.Therefore,pNO2Phe65 smBAFF can be used as a candidate molecule for the treatment of autoimmune diseases with BAFF over-expression.