PB0686 - Functional changes of Blys and receptors in patients with ITP

Background: ITP is an autoimmune disease caused by the increased destruction of platelets and megakaryocytes mediated by autoantibodies and the damage of platelet production. It can cause bleeding of skin and mucous membrane, or bleeding of internal organs, endangering life safety. Recent studies have found that Blys plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ITP to some extent.

Aims: This report aims to describe the functional changes of Blys and its receptors in ITP in order to further explore the role of Blys in the pathogenesis of ITP.

Methods: The expression levels of Blys and BAFF-R mRNA in peripheral blood of HC patients and ITP patients were determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Serum levels of Blys were determined by ELISA. The expression of BAFF-R,TACI and BCMA on the surface of B cells was detected by flow cytometry. The correlation of Blys and BAFF-R mRNA expression levels between ITP and HCs, and the correlation between serum Blys and platelet count were analyzed.

Results: Compared with HCs, the serum Blys level and Blys mRNA expression level of ITP patients were significantly increased (P= 0.004,P < 0.01), and the mRNA of BAFF-R was not significantly changed (P=0.0602). There was no correlation between serum Blys and platelet count,Blys mRNA and BAFF-R mRNA in ITP patients (rs=0.4909,P=0.1294; rs=-0.05337,P=0.7572). The expression level of Blys receptor in HCs and ITP was BAFF-R>TACI>BCMA, but there was no statistical difference between HCs and ITP, as shown in the figure below.

Conclusion(s): Compared with HCs, the changes of Blys in ITP patients were obvious, but there was no significant difference in receptors. Therefore, we can further explore the reasons and improve the role of Blys in the pathogenesis of ITP.