PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - M. M. E. Gosman AU - B. W. M. Willemse AU - D. F. Jansen AU - T. S. Lapperre AU - A. van Schadewijk AU - P. S. Hiemstra AU - D. S. Postma AU - W. Timens AU - H. A. M. Kerstjens AU - the Groningen and Leiden Universities Corticosteroids in Obstructive Lung Disease (GLUCOLD) Study Group TI - Increased number of B-cells in bronchial biopsies in COPD AID - 10.1183/09031936.06.00007005 DP - 2006 Jan 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 60--64 VI - 27 IP - 1 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/27/1/60.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/27/1/60.full SO - Eur Respir J2006 Jan 01; 27 AB - Recently, it has been shown that the accumulated volume of B-cells in small airways is increased in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stages 3 and 4. Little is known about the number of B-cells in central airways in COPD. The present authors hypothesised that the number of B-cells in bronchial biopsies of large airways is higher in patients with COPD than in controls without airflow limitation and higher in more severe COPD. Therefore, bronchial biopsies were collected from 114 COPD patients (postbronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 63±9 % predicted value, FEV1/inspiratory vital capacity (IVC) 48±9%) and 28 controls (postbronchodilator FEV1 108±12 % predicted value, FEV1/IVC 78±4%). Paraffin sections were stained for B-cells (CD20+) and their number was determined in the subepithelial area (excluding muscle, glands and vessels). B-cell numbers were higher in patients with COPD versus controls (8.5 versus 3.9 cells·mm−2, respectively) and higher in patients with GOLD severity stage 3 (n = 11) than stage 2 (n = 103; 22.3 versus 7.8 cells·mm−2). No relationship was found between the number of B-cells and clinical characteristics within the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease group. The authors suggest that these increased B-cell numbers may have an important contribution to the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.