Plasmablast response in patients with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

GARCÍA M; MARTINEZ V; IGLESIAS A; LANDONI V; SASIAIN MC; SCHIERLOH P

Hannover

Workshop; Lower Saxony International Summer Academy (LISA); 2014

Hannover Biomedical Research School

"Immunoblast-like" cells are typically observed in patients with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). However the cellular lineage of such morphologically defined reactive cells remains to be established. Herein, we performed immunophenotyping of peripheral blood leucocytes from symptomatic patients infected with Andes virus (ANDV), the most pathogenic and prevalent strain of Hantavirus in South America. FACS analysis revealed high numbers of CD19+CD27hiCD38hiCD20negIgDnegCD138+/neg intracellular Igshi blasted (FSChiSSChi) cells identified as circulating plasmablasts, a B cell-derived population virtually absent in healthy controls (p