Download Data supplement 6

Supplementary Figure legend
Supplementary Figure S1. Comparison of absolute numbers of lymphocyte subsets at
baseline
(A) The absolute numbers of CD19+ cell subsets in healthy control and SLE patients at
baseline. In SLE patients, the absolute numbers of CD27+IgD+ pre-switch memory B
cells were significantly lower than in controls.
(B) CD27-IgD+ antigen inexperienced B cells subsets. No significant differences in the
absolute numbers of CD38low mature naive B cells, CD38IntermediateCD5+ pre-naive B cells,
and CD38highCD5+ transitional B cells were observed.
(C) Absolute numbers of activated B and T cell subsets in healthy control and SLE
patients at baseline. The numbers of non-B CD69+ subsets, CD4+HLADR+ cells and
CD8+HLADR+ cells were significantly higher in SLE patients .
The bars show the mean + standard deviation. * p<0.05
Supplementary Figure S2. Tocilizumab treatment significantly decreased the absolute
numbers of activated PBMC subsets.
(A) CD69+IgD- B cells, (B) CD69+IgD+ B cells and (C) CD69+ non B cells, (D) HLADR+ CD4+ T, and (E) HLA-DR+CD8+ T cells.
Tocilizumab treatment significantly decreased the absolute number of HLA-DR+CD8+ T
cell subsets.
The left panels show the expression of activation markers at baseline compared to healthy
controls, the middle panels show changes in all lupus patients and the right panels show
the changes separately in those with baseline levels within normal limits (WNL) and
those with baseline values outside normal limits (ONL). The solid horizontal lines show
the mean, the dashed lines the standard deviations for controls. Tocilizumab induced
changes were seen primarily in those who had abnormal values at baseline in (A)-(B) and
(E) The graphs show the mean±SE. Significance was tested by repeated measures of
ANOVA and the Bonferroni-Dunn adjustment for multiple comparisons. P values
<0.0167 are considered significant.
Significant changes from baseline are marked with an *.
Supplementary Figure S3. Effect of tocilizumab on absolute numbers of B cell subsets
(A) Tocilizumab treatment significantly decreased abnormally elevated
plasmblast/plasma cell numbers by primarily effecting those who have abnormally
elevated plasma cell numbers at baseline.
(B) Tocilizumab increased the absolute numbers of CD27- IgD+ antigen inexperienced B
cell by primarily affecting those who had abnormally reduced naïve B cell frequencies at
baseline. These panels show the changes separately in those with normal baseline levels
and those with an abnormal baseline values.
C) In the absolute numbers of CD27- IgD+ antigen inexperienced B cell, the absolute
numbers of CD38low mature naive B cell subset trend toward increasing with tocilizumab
treatment. Tocilizumab induced changes were seen primarily in those who had abnormal
values at baseline. The absolute number of CD38IntermediateCD5+ pre-naive B cells did not
change significantly. The left panels show the expression of activation markers at
baseline compared to healthy controls, the middle panels show changes in all lupus
patients and the right panels show the changes separately in those with normal baseline
levels and those with an abnormal baseline values. The solid horizontal lines show the
mean, the dashed lines the standard deviations for controls. Tocilizumab induced
changes were seen primarily in those who had abnormal values at baseline. The graphs
show the mean±SE. Significance was tested by repeated measures of ANOVA and the
Bonferroni-Dunn adjustment for multiple comparisons. P values <0.0167 are considered
significant. Significant changes from baseline are marked with an *.
Supplementary Figure S4.
The absolute numbers of naïve CD4+T cells increased with tocilizumab treatment by
primarily affecting those who have abnormally reduced naïve CD4+ T cell numbers at
baseline . The graphs show the mean±SE. Significance was tested by repeated measures
of ANOVA and the Bonferroni-Dunn adjustment for multiple comparisons. P values
<0.0167 are considered significant. Significant changes from baseline are marked with an
*.