Alternations of peripheral B‐cell subsets are closely related to disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and may also predict the relapse of SLE. In this study, we aimed to comprehensively analyse the frequency of peripheral B‐cell subsets, and their correlation with disease activity in patients with SLE. The results showed that for B‐cell subsets in the antigen‐independent differentiation stage, the frequency of the peripheral hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) subset in all patients with SLE was significantly higher than that of control patients. Surprisingly, several significant correlations were noted in newly diagnosed patients with SLE including a positive correlation in the frequency of the common lymphoid progenitor cell (CLP) with cholesterol serum levels. For B‐cell subsets in the antigen‐dependent differentiation stage, the frequency of naïve B‐cell (N‐B) subsets in all patients with SLE was significantly higher than that in the control patients. Moreover, the frequency of plasmablasts positively correlated with the SLEDAI score in the newly diagnosed patients. For memory B‐cell (M‐B) subtypes in the antigen‐dependent differentiation stage, the frequency of the class‐switched memory B‐cell (CSM‐B) subsets was positively correlated with the serum levels of complement C3. Notably, the frequency of the CSM‐B subset also negatively correlated with the SLEDAI score, whereas the non–class‐switched memory B‐cell (NSM‐B) subset was positively correlated with the serum levels of haemoglobin. Collectively, these findings may contribute to a better understanding of the role played by different B‐cell subsets in the pathogenesis of SLE.

中文翻译：

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系统性红斑狼疮患者外周血B细胞亚群改变的频率及其与疾病活动的相关性：综合分析。

外周血B细胞亚群的改变与系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）的疾病活动密切相关，也可能预测SLE的复发。在这项研究中，我们旨在全面分析SLE患者外周血B细胞亚群的频率及其与疾病活动的相关性。结果表明，对于处于抗原独立分化阶段的B细胞亚群，所有SLE患者的外周血造血干细胞（HSC）亚群的频率均显着高于对照组。令人惊讶的是，在新诊断的SLE患者中发现了几个显着的相关性，包括普通淋巴祖细胞（CLP）的频率与胆固醇血清水平呈正相关。对于处于抗原依赖性分化阶段的B细胞亚群，所有SLE患者的幼稚B细胞（N-B）亚组的频率均显着高于对照组。此外，在新诊断的患者中，成浆细胞的频率与SLEDAI得分呈正相关。对于处于抗原依赖性分化阶段的记忆B细胞（M‐B）亚型，类别转换记忆B细胞（CSM‐B）子集的频率与补体C3的血清水平呈正相关。值得注意的是，CSM-B子集的频率也与SLEDAI得分呈负相关，而非分类开关记忆B细胞（NSM-B）子集与血红蛋白的血清水平呈正相关。总之，这些发现可能有助于更好地了解SLE发病机理中不同B细胞亚群的作用。