Table 1.
Main characteristics of the patients and healthy donors*
| Characteristic | Healthy donors (n = 20) | HCV without MC (n = 20) | HCV with MC (n = 15) | HCV-MC without lymphoma (n = 8) | HCV-MC with lymphoma (n = 7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (range) years | – | 50 (36–67) | 47 (25–73) | 47 (39–73) | 51 (25–67) |
| Males, no. (%) | – | 13 (65) | 6 (40) | 2 | 4 |
| Type II MC, no. (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 15 (100) | 8 (100) | 7 (100) |
| MC vasculitis, no. (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 15 (100) | 8 (100) | 7 (100) |
| B cell NHL, no. (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 7 (47) | 0 (0) | 7 (100) |
| Cell subsets, mean ± SD % | |||||
| CD19+ B cells among lymphocytes | 11.3 ± 4.0 | 9.9 ± 5.4 | 5.6 ± 2.6 | 5.6 ± 2.9 | 5.7 ± 2.6 |
| IgM+CD27− among CD19+ B cells | 63.1 ± 4.8 | 64.1 ± 13.3 | 47.8 ± 16.0 | 46.2 ± 16.9 | 49.6 ± 15.9 |
| IgM+CD27+ among CD19+ B cells | 16.8 ± 4.6 | 16.5 ± 7.5 | 39.7 ± 13.6 | 38.6 ± 14.7 | 41.0 ± 13.2 |
| IgM−CD27+ among CD19+ B cells | 15.2 ± 5.1 | 15.1 ± 8.7 | 7.8 ± 4.9 | 10.4 ± 5.0 | 4.9 ± 2.7 |
| CD21−/lowIgM+CD27+ among CD19+ B cells | 1.7 ± 0.6 | 4.2 ± 2.1 | 33.6 ± 19.5 | 24.3 ± 9.7 | 44.2 ± 23.3 |
*
IgM+CD27− B cells were defined as naive B cells, IgM+CD27+ B cells were defined as marginal zone–like B cells, IgM−CD27+ B cells were defined as class-switched B cells, and CD21−/lowIgM+CD27+ B cells were defined as clonal marginal zone–like B cells. HCV = hepatitits C virus; MC = mixed cryoglobulinemia; NHL = non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.