Eighteen newly diagnosed AS patients and 10 healthy controls (HC) were recruited in this study. The expression of CD27, CD38, CD86, CD95 and IgD on CD19+ B cells was examined by flow cytometry. The disease activity was scored according to the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI). Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), IgG, IgA and IgM, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured.
The frequency of CD27+ B cells was decreased in AS patients compared with HC (p = 0.018), while CD86+ and CD27?CD95+ B cell subsets increased in AS patients (p < 0.001). Meanwhile, the frequencies of CD38+ and CD95+ B cell positively correlated with BASDAI (r = 0.6505, p = 0.0035; r = 0.6854, p = 0.0017, respectively), while CD38?CD86+ B cell negatively correlated with BASDAI (r = ? 0.7329, p < 0.001). We also found that CD27? and CD95+ B cell negatively correlated with RF levels (r = ? 0.5141, p = 0.0290; r = ? 0.4944, p = 0.0370, respectively), while CD27+ B cell positively correlated with IgG levels (p = 0.0148, r = 0.5640). Moreover, CD86+ and CD27?CD95+ B cell subsets increased following treatment with Meloxicam and Etanercept for one month (p < 0.001; p < 0.001).
These findings suggest that CD27?CD95+CD19+ and CD86+CD19+ B cells may be reasonable cellular targets for the therapeutic intervention of AS.