AUTHOR=Serény-Litvai Timea , Bajnok Anna , Temesfoi Viktoria , Nörenberg Jasper , Pham-Dobor Greta , Kaposi Ambrus , Varnagy Akos , Kovacs Kalman , Pentek Sandor , Koszegi Tamas , Mezosi Emese , Berki Timea TITLE=B cells from anti-thyroid antibody positive, infertile women show hyper-reactivity to BCR stimulation JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1039166 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2022.1039166 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Anti-thyroid antibody (ATA) positivity affects 1 out of 9 women in childbearing age and presents a significant risk for infertility. Emerging evidence indicates that alterations in the B cell receptor induced calcium (Ca2+) signaling could be key in the development of autoimmunity. We aimed to investigate the Ca2+ flux response of B lymphocyte subsets to BCR stimulation in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and related infertility. We collected peripheral blood samples from ATA+, infertile, euthyroid patients (HIE), hypothyroid, ATA+ patients before (H1) and after levothyroxine treatment (H2), and age-matched healthy controls (HC). All B cell subsets of ATA+, infertile, euthyroid patients showed elevated basal Ca2+ level and hyper-responsivity to BCR ligation compared to the other groups, which could reflect altered systemic immune function. The Ca2+ flux of hypothyroid patients was similar to healthy controls. The levothyroxine-treated patients had decreased prevalence of CD25+ B cells and lower basal Ca2+ level compared to pre-treatment. Our results support the role of altered Ca2+ flux of B cells in the early phase of thyroid autoimmunity and infertility.