Effects of BAFF Neutralization on Atherosclerosis Associated With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Fanny Saidoune, Guillaume Even, Yasmine Lamri, Julie Chezel, Anh-Thu Gaston, Brigitte Escoubet, Thomas Papo, Nicolas Charles, Antonino Nicoletti, Karim Sacre

Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) 2021 Feb

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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). B cells play a key role in the pathogenesis of lupus, and anti-BAFF therapy has been approved for use in SLE. Since mature B cells also promote atherosclerosis, we undertook this study to evaluate, in a mouse model and in SLE patients, whether BAFF neutralization has an atheroprotective effect in SLE. The effect of BAFF on atherosclerosis associated with lupus was investigated in the atherosclerosis/lupus-prone apolipoprotein E-knockout D227K mouse model and in a cohort of SLE patients. Mice were treated with a blocking anti-BAFF monoclonal antibody (mAb), while fed a standard chow diet. Carotid plaque and carotid intima-media thickness were assessed by ultrasound at baseline and during follow-up in SLE patients who were asymptomatic for CVD. Anti-BAFF mAb in ApoE-/- D227K mice induced B cell depletion, efficiently treated lupus, and improved atherosclerosis lesions (21% decrease; P = 0.007) in mice with low plasma cholesterol levels but worsened the lesions (17% increase; P = 0.06) in mice with high cholesterol levels. The atheroprotective effect of the BAFF-BAFF receptor signaling inhibition on B cells was counterbalanced by the proatherogenic effect of the BAFF-TACI signaling inhibition on macrophages. In SLE patients, blood BAFF levels were associated with subclinical atherosclerosis (r = 0.26, P = 0.03). Anti-BAFF mAb treatment had a differential effect on the intima-media thickness progression in SLE patients depending on body mass index. Depending on the balance between lipid-induced and B cell-induced proatherogenic conditions, anti-BAFF could be detrimental or beneficial, respectively, to atherosclerosis development in SLE. © 2020, American College of Rheumatology.

Citation

Fanny Saidoune, Guillaume Even, Yasmine Lamri, Julie Chezel, Anh-Thu Gaston, Brigitte Escoubet, Thomas Papo, Nicolas Charles, Antonino Nicoletti, Karim Sacre. Effects of BAFF Neutralization on Atherosclerosis Associated With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.). 2021 Feb;73(2):255-264