Clonality analysis of lymphoproliferative disorders in patients with Sjögren's syndrome

• Published in: Clinical and experimental immunology 2007-11, Vol.150 (2), p.279-284
• Main Authors: Dong, L, Masaki, Y, Takegami, T, Jin, Z.-X, Huang, C.-R, Fukushima, T, Sawaki, T, Kawanami, T, Saeki, T, Kitagawa, K, Sugai, S, Okazaki, T, Hirose, Y, Umehara, H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Amino Acid Sequence; Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; B-Lymphocytes - pathology; Biological and medical sciences; clonality; Complementarity Determining Regions - genetics; Disease Progression; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Heavy Chain; Humans; Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains - genetics; lymphatic diseases; Lymphoma, B-Cell - pathology; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone - pathology; lymphoproliferative disorders; Lymphoproliferative Disorders - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular biophysics; Neoplastic Stem Cells - pathology; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Sjogren's Syndrome - pathology; Sjögren's syndrome; Translational Studies
• ISSN: 0009-9104; 1365-2249; 1365-2249
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2007.03486.x

The aim of this study was to clarify the nature of the clonal lymphocyte infiltration in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients associated with lymphoproliferative disorders. We examined B cell clonality in lymphoproliferative tissues from six primary SS patients associated with lymphoproliferative disorders or lymphoma by cloning and sequencing of the gene rearrangement of the immunoglobulin heavy chain complementarity determining region 3 (IgVH-CDR3). Three patients with sequential observation showed progressional clonal expansion with the presence of the same subclone in different tissues during the course of disease. Among them, one patient developed mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in glandular parotid. The other three SS patients concomitant with malignant B cells lymphomas showed different clonal expansion of B cells between nodal sites and salivary glands. The cloanality analysis indicated that monoclonal B cell population could spread from one glandular site to another site during the course of SS, suggesting that the malignant clone may arise from the general abnormal microenvironment, not restricted to the glandular tissue, in some SS patients.