Blood CD9+B cell, a biomarker of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after lung transplantation

Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome is the main limitation for long‐term survival after lung transplantation. Some specific B cell populations are associated with long‐term graft acceptance. We aimed to monitor the B cell profile during early development of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after lung transplantation. The B cell longitudinal profile was analyzed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome and patients who remained stable over 3 years of follow‐up. CD24hiCD38hitransitional B cells were increased in stable patients only, and reached a peak 24 months after transplantation, whereas they remained unchanged in patients who developed a bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. These CD24hiCD38hitransitional B cells specifically secrete IL‐10 and express CD9. Thus, patients with a total CD9+B cell frequency below 6.6% displayed significantly higher incidence of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (AUC = 0.836, PPV = 0.75, NPV = 1). These data are the first to associate IL‐10‐secreting CD24hiCD38hitransitional B cells expressing CD9 with better allograft outcome in lung transplant recipients. CD9‐expressing B cells appear as a contributor to a favorable environment essential for the maintenance of long‐term stable graft function and as a new predictive biomarker of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome–free survival. In lung transplant patients with bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome and patients who remained stable over 3 years of follow‐up, IL‐10–secreting CD24hiCD38hi transitional B cells expressing CD9 are associated with better allograft outcome, suggesting CD9‐expressing B cells as a new predictive biomarker of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome–free survival.