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Causes of increased and decreased B-lymphocytes (CD20)
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
In the second half of a normally developing inflammatory process, in most cases, the relative number of B-lymphocytes in the blood increases (especially in viral infections). As a rule, this indicator increases in parallel with the increase in regional lymph nodes. The relative content of B-lymphocytes usually increases in protracted inflammatory processes. For a clinician, the most important thing is to analyze the level of B-lymphocytes after the end of clinical manifestations of the inflammatory process. In all cases, normalization of the relative number of B-lymphocytes indicates the complete end of the process.
Diseases and conditions that change the number of CD20 lymphocytes in the blood
| Increase in the indicator | Decrease in the indicator |
Acute bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections HIV infection (initial period) Chronic liver disease, liver cirrhosis, viral hepatitis Autoimmune diseases Rheumatoid arthritis Systemic lupus erythematosus Rheumatism, collagenoses Sarcoidosis, cystic fibrosis Waldenstrom's disease Infectious mononucleosis Chronic lymphocytic leukemia Monoclonal gammopathy Acute period of re-infection, immune response to thymus-independent antigens |
Physiological hypogammaglobulinemia in children (aged 3-5 months) Congenital hypogammaglobulinemia or agammaglobulinemia Neoplasms of the immune system Treatment with cytostatics and immunosuppressants Condition after removal of the spleen Humoral immunity deficiency |