Abstract:Abstract: Objective: To investigate the change of the proportion of CD39+CD73+ B cell subsets in B cells in peripheral blood of patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and its correlation with clinical indexes of PBC. Methods: Sixty PBC patients and 40 healthy controls from Wujiang and Changshu Districts of Suzhou were collected. The proportion of CD39+CD73+ B cell subsets in B cells in peripheral blood of all subjects was analyzed by flow cytometry. The levels of serum anti-mitochondrial antibody M2 (AMA-M2) in PBC patients were quantitatively analyzed by the automated multiplexed bead-based assay. The liver function indexes were detected by an automatic biochemical analyzer. The differences of CD39+CD73+ B cell subsets between groups and their correlations with autoantibodies and liver enzymes were analyzed. Results: The proportion [median (P25, P75)] of CD39+CD73+ B cell subsets in PBC patients was significantly lower than that in healthy controls [55.6%(44.9%, 60.5%) vs 73.0%(69.8%, 74.9%), P<0.001]. The proportions of CD39+CD73+ B cell subsets in PBC patients were significantly and negatively correlated with serum AMA-M2 levels (r=-0.349, P=0.027). The proportions of CD39+CD73+ B cell subsets in PBC patients with positive anti-glycoprotein 210 antibody (anti-GP210) were significantly lower than those with negative anti-GP210 [44.6%(38.2%, 49.9%) vs 58.7%(49.8%, 63.8%), P<0.001]. There was no significant difference in the proportion of CD39+CD73+ B cell subsets between the PBC patients with positive anti-nuclear body protein SP100 antibody (anti-SP100) and negative anti-SP100 [58.6%(47.9%, 62.7%) vs 51.6%(44.7%, 60.4%), P=0.292]. Conclusion: The proportion of CD39+CD73+ B cell subsets in peripheral blood of PBC patients is significantly reduced and correlated with specific autoantibodies, suggesting that these B cell subsets may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PBC.