Grammatikos A, Donati M, Johnston SL, Gompels MM. Peripheral B Cell Deficiency and Predisposition to Viral Infections: The Paradigm of Immune Deficiencies.
Front Immunol 2021;
12:731643. [PMID:
34527001 PMCID:
PMC8435594 DOI:
10.3389/fimmu.2021.731643]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
In the era of COVID-19, understanding how our immune system responds to viral infections is more pertinent than ever. Immunodeficiencies with very low or absent B cells offer a valuable model to study the role of humoral immunity against these types of infection. This review looks at the available evidence on viral infections in patients with B cell alymphocytosis, in particular those with X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA), Good’s syndrome, post monoclonal-antibody therapy and certain patients with Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID). Viral infections are not as infrequent as previously thought in these conditions and individuals with very low circulating B cells seem to be predisposed to an adverse outcome. Particularly in the case of SARS-CoV2 infection, mounting evidence suggests that peripheral B cell alymphocytosis is linked to a poor prognosis.
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