Tertiary lymphoid neogenesis is a component of pulmonary lymphoid hyperplasia in patients with common variable...

Despite reducing pneumonia and other infections, antibody replacement does not appear to treat pulmonary lymphoid hyperplasia (PLH) in patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). The pathogenesis and optimal treatments remain to be clarified.

We aimed to better understand the pathology of CVID-associated lung disease. Tertiary lymphoneogenesis, although a component of interstitial lung disease associated with autoimmune diseases, has not previously been explored in patients with CVID.

We examined the clinical characteristics and pathologic findings of 6 patients with CVID with nodular/infiltrative lung disease who had biopsy specimens demonstrating PLH.

In these subjects regions of PLH contained distinct B- and T-cell zones, with B-cell predominance in 1 patient and T-cell predominance in the others. Colocalization of Ki67, Bcl6, and CD23 within this ectopic lymphoid architecture demonstrated tertiary lymphoneogenesis with active centers of cellular proliferation. One patient received rituximab with improved pulmonary radiologic findings.

Ectopic lymphoid tissue forming germinal centers suggest tertiary lymphoneogenesis in CVID-associated lung disease. B cell-targeted therapy might disrupt CVID-associated lymphoid hyperplasia.