PReS-FINAL-1020: Dysregulation of the peripheral blood D cell compartment is associated with disease activity in juvenile dermatomyositis

Introduction Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is an autoimmune disease characterized by proximal muscle weakness and cutaneous manifestations, typically heliotrope rash and Gottron’s papules. Previous studies have identified an increase in circulating B cells in JDM patients, but their provenance and functional characteristics have not been examined. In this study we investigated whether a recently identified immature B cell subset (CD24CD38) with known regulatory function (Breg) was enriched in JDM and correlated with disease outcome measures.