Assessment of variation in B-cell receptor heavy chain repertoire in patients with end-stage renal disease by high-throughput sequencing

Abstract

Background/Aims: End-stage renal disease (ESRD), characterized by progressive loss of rental function during the disease course, has been reported to be correlated with immune dysregulation. To date, a majority of previous studies on immune response to ESRD have been focused on the T-cell response. This prospective study was to assess the B-cell receptor (BCR) heavy chain repertoire in ESRD patients. Materials and methods: A total of 10 ESRD patients and six healthy controls were prospectively enrolled in this study. BCR immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) repertoire in the peripheral blood from ESRD patients and healthy individuals were analyzed by means of next generation sequencing (NGS) in combination with multiplex PCR, Illumina sequencing, and the international ImMunoGeneTics database (IMGT). Results: Abnormal BCR complementary-determining region 3 (CDR3) sequences were identified in relation to ESRD. We also found that the degree of the B-cell clonal expansion in the ESRD group was significantly greater than that in the control group (p