Association between peripheral activated naive and double negative 2 B-cell subsets and clinical parameters in lupus nephritis patients

Altered composition of B-cell compartments is a known feature in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, deep characterisation of B-cell subsets and their relation to clinical manifestations and disease activity in patients is limited. In this study, we analysed peripheral B-cell subsets phenotype in SLE (n = 35) and healthy controls (HCs, n = 15) by spectral flow cytometry. Disease activity was stratified as inactive (SLEDAI-2 K score 0, n = 2), mild (SLEDAI-2 K score 1-5, n = 12), moderate (SLEDAI-2 K score 6-10, n = 6) or high (SLEDAI-2 K > 10, n = 15). An elevated proportion of activated naive (aNAV), double negative 2 (DN2) and plasmablasts (PB) was observed in patients with high disease activity, compared to other groups of patients and HCs. An upregulation of BTLA was found on both aNAV and DN2 and shifted to lower levels with increasing disease activity. In lupus nephritis (LN) patients (n = 21), aNAV B-cells were especially expanded and positively correlated with DN2 (r = 0.5, p = 0.019) and PB (r = 0.43, p = 0.048). Also, correlation was observed between DN2 and PB (r = 0.6, p = 0.003). Moreover, aNAV frequencies positively correlated with SLEDAI-2 K score, and negatively with the complement fractions C3 and C4. Further, aNAV, DN2 and PB were more expanded in association with positive anti-dsDNA antibodies, rather than other antibody specificities (anti-Sm). These data suggest roles of extrafollicular B cells as key players in disease development of LN. Their association with presence of anti-dsDNA antibodies may indicate their value as candidate biomarkers of kidney involvement in SLE.