Abstract
Although mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) possess immunomodulatory properties and exhibit promising efficacy against chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), little is known about the immune changes by which MSCs ameliorate cGVHD in vivo. Recent studies have suggested that B lymphocytes might play an important role in the pathogenesis of cGVHD. In this study, we investigated changes in the numbers, phenotypes, and subpopulations of B lymphocytes in cGVHD patients who showed a complete response (CR), partial response (PR), or no response (NR) after MSC treatment. We found that the frequencies and numbers of CD27+ memory and pre-germinal center B lymphocytes were significantly increased in the CR and PR cGVHD patients after MSC treatment but decreased in the NR patients. A further analysis of CR/PR cGVHD patients showed that MSC treatment led to a decrease in the plasma levels of B cell-activating factor (BAFF) and increased expression of the BAFF receptor (BAFF-R) on peripheral B lymphocytes but no changes in plasma BAFF levels or BAFF-R expression on B lymphocytes in NR patients. Overall, our findings imply that MSCs might exert therapeutic effects in cGVHD patients, accompanied by alteration of naïve and memory B-cell subsets, modulating plasma BAFF levels and BAFF-R expression on B lymphocytes.