Regulatory B  cells in neuroimmunological diseases

AbstractThe idea that B  cells participate in immune regulation was initially postulated from observations in animals in the 1970s. It is now established that certain B‐cell populations, known as regulatory B cells, regulate immune reactions in various animal models of autoimmunity, chiefly through the production of in terleukin‐10. Subsequent to these findings in animals, several B‐cell subsets have been identified in human blood that are capable of producing interleukin‐10 when stimulatedex vivo. Although we still do not have direct evidence showing that these interleukin ‐10‐producing B cells regulate autoimmunity in humans, their functional and phenotypic homology to regulatory B cells in animals, their abnormalities reported in various autoimmune diseases and their alterations in response to treatments all suggest their regulatory role in humans. In this rev iew, the role of regulatory B cells in three neuroimmunological diseases – multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and myasthenia gravis – are discussed.
Source: Clinical and Experimental Neuroimmunology - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: REVIEW ARTICLE Source Type: research