Decreased B lymphocytes subpopulations are associated with higher atherosclerotic risk in elderly patients with moderate-to-severe chronic kidney diseases

AIM: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the risk of CVD increases with reductions in renal function. This study aims to investigate the potential roles of B lymphocyte populations in subclinical atherosclerosis (measured by intima-media thickness, IMT) and prognosis in elderly patients with moderate-to-severe CKD. METHODS: In this study, a total of 219 patients (143 moderate-to-severe CKD patients with stage 3–4 and 76 non-CKD controls) were recruited. B cell subsets: CD19(+)CD5(+) and CD19(+)CD5(−) B cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured by ultrasound. Correlations between the B cell subsets with IMT and clinical outcome was analyzed. RESULTS: CKD patients showed increased IMT (P = 0.006). The level of CD19(+)CD5(+) and CD19(+)CD5(−) B cells were decreased in CKD patients. Correlation analysis showed that IMT was positively correlated with systolic blood pressure, protein/creatinine ratio and diabetes (P < 0.05), and were negatively correlated with CD19(+)CD5(+) and CD19(+)CD5(−) B lymphocytes (P < 0.05). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that CD19(+)CD5(−) B cells had a significant independent association with IMT (P < 0.05). IMT was increased in lower level of total CD19(+) B cells (≤ 0.06 × 10(9) /L) and CD19(+)CD5(−) B cells (≤ 0.05 × 10(9) /L) (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with lower levels of CD19(+)CD5(+) and CD19(+)CD5(−) B cells exhibited worse survival (P < 0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that patients with lower CD19(+)CD5(+) and CD19(+)CD5(−) B cells counts have a higher risk of all-cause mortality (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that decreased CD19(+)CD5(+) and CD19(+)CD5(−) B lymphocytes were correlated with atherosclerosis and worse survival, which indicates that B lymphocytes might involve in atherosclerosis and associated the prognosis of elderly patients with moderate-to-severe CKD.