Abstract
B lymphocytes play roles in many auto-immune diseases characterized by unresolved inflammation, and B cell ablation is proving to be a relatively safe, effective treatment for such diseases. B cells function, in part, as important sources of regulatory cytokines in auto-immune disease, but B cell cytokines also play roles in other non-auto-immune inflammatory diseases. B cell ablation may therefore benefit inflammatory disease patients in addition to its demonstrated efficacy in auto-immune disease. Current ablation drugs clear both pro- and anti-inflammatory B cell subsets, which may unexpectedly exacerbate some pathologies. This possibility argues that a more thorough understanding of B cell function in human inflammatory disease is required to safely harness the clinical promise of B cell ablation. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and periodontal disease (PD) are two inflammatory diseases characterized by little autoimmunity. These diseases are linked by coincident presentation and alterations in toll-like receptor (TLR)-dependent B cell cytokine production, which may identify B cell ablation as a new therapy for co-affected individuals. Further analysis of the role B cells and B cell cytokines play in T2D, PD and other inflammatory diseases is required to justify testing B cell depletion therapies on a broader range of patients.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 234-242 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Cytokine |
Volume | 50 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2010 |
Keywords
- Chronic inflammation
- Cytokines
- Human B cells
- Periodontal disease
- Type 2 diabetes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology
- Biochemistry
- Hematology
- Molecular Biology