Herpes zoster (HZ) is a recurrent varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection. Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells produce IL-21 and CXCL13, which contributes to the differentiation of plasmablasts. Plasmablasts are involved in the VZV-specific antibody production. We investigated the kinetics of circulating plasmablasts and circulating Tfh (cTfh) cells in 43 HZ patients. Plasma IL-21 and CXCL13 levels were also measured. We found an increase of circulating plasmablasts during the clinical course of HZ. The frequency of circulating plasmablasts positively correlated with VZV-specific IgG titers, frequency of activated cTfh cells, and plasma CXCL13 levels, but did not correlate with plasma IL-21 levels. In a representative case, the kinetics peaked in the order of cTfh cells, CXCL13, plasmablasts, and VZV IgG titer. These results suggest that cTfh-CXCL13 may have a crucial role in the differentiation of B cells into VZV-specific IgG-producing plasmablasts, resulting in boosting immunity against VZV reactivation.

带状疱疹（HZ）是一种复发性水痘带状疱疹病毒（VZV）感染。卵泡辅助性T（Tfh）细胞产生IL-21和CXCL13，这有助于浆母细胞的分化。成浆细胞参与VZV特异性抗体的产生。我们调查了43名HZ患者中循环浆母细胞和循环Tfh（cTfh）细胞的动力学。还测量血浆IL-21和CXCL13水平。我们发现在HZ的临床过程中循环成浆细胞的增加。循环浆细胞的频率与VZV特异性IgG滴度，激活的cTfh细胞的频率以及血浆CXCL13水平呈正相关，但与血浆IL-21水平却不相关。在代表性的情况下，动力学以cTfh细胞，CXCL13，成浆细胞和VZV IgG滴度的顺序达到峰值。