THE EXPRESSION OF THE Fc GAMMA RECEPTORS (CD16, CD32, CD64) ONLEUKOCYTES IN THE COMMON VARIABLE IMMUNODEFICIENCY (CVID)

CVID is most frequent symptomatic primary hypogammaglobulinemia. The foundation of therapy for CVID is immunoglobulin replacement. The factors that influence the effect of this therapy are not elucidated. It should be supposed participation of receptors for immunoglobulins on professional phagocytes and lymphocytes. We have investigated 41 patients (13 males, 28 females, aged 10-77 years) and 44 age-related control persons. Quantitative expression of the Fc receptors on the surface of lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes was determined by flow cytometry. Gene polymorphism of Fc receptors was determined by PCR. The expression of CD16, CD 32 and CD64 on lymphocytes and monocytes was comparable in patients and control persons, also the expression of CD16 and CD32 on granulocytes was similar in both groups. However, we have found marked differences in the expression of CD64 on granulocytes in CVID patients: in patients with high expression of CD64 on their granulocytes the clinical state and effectivity of standard treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin was significantly worse than in patients with low expression of this receptor. Our results suggest that the gravity in the clinical course of CVID patients and efficacy of immunoglobulin therapy may relate to the upregulation of Fc gamma receptor I (CD64) on granulocytes.