ArticleAnnals of neurology2026
From Marginal to Central: Marginal Zone-like B Cells as Critical Targets in Cladribine-Treated Multiple Sclerosis.
Article in Annals of neurology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- CD44 as a Conserved Biomarker and Functional Modulator of Neuroinflammation in Multiple Sclerosis and Beyond.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
21 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease where B cells play a central pathogenic role. Cladribine, an oral therapy, provides durable benefits by reshaping lymphocyte populations, yet its specific long-term impact on distinct B-cell subsets is not fully understood. This study aimed to define cladribine's longitudinal effects on B-cell subsets and characterize their inflammatory properties.
methodsWe conducted a 48-month longitudinal study of 36 persons with relapsing-remitting MS treated with cladribine who had completed 2 annual treatment cycles, using high-parameter flow cytometry to track B-cell subset dynamics. In a parallel cross-sectional analysis, B cells from 16 untreated patients and 16 healthy donors were profiled for polyfunctional cytokine production granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and key surface markers.
resultsCladribine induced profound, sustained depletion of memory B cells, with marginal zone-like (MZ-like) cells showing the deepest and most persistent loss, alongside reconstitution of transitional and naïve populations. Functionally, MZ-like B cells were the most potent polyfunctional producers of proinflammatory cytokines and immunoglobulin M (IgM), a capacity significantly enhanced in persons with MS compared to healthy donors, and expressed the highest levels of CD1c and CD1d, consistent with specialization in lipid antigen presentation.
interpretationMZ-like B cells are a dominant, polyfunctional inflammatory subset in MS, equipped for non-canonical lipid antigen presentation and IgM secretion. They represent a preferential pharmacological target of cladribine. Sustained reduction of this pathogenic memory pool, followed by repopulation with less inflammatory B cells, offers a mechanistic basis for cladribine's durable clinical benefit and nominates MZ-like cells as biomarkers of response and therapeutic targets. ANN NEUROL 2026;100:808-823.
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