Fig. 6

Correlation of frequencies of CD19⁺CD24^hiCD38^hi B cells with Gαq mRNA expression in PBMCs from RA patients. PBMCs isolated from patients with RA and healthy individuals stained with CD19, CD24, and CD38. Representative flow cytometry plots showed CD19⁺CD24^hiCD38^hi B-cell subpopulations in PBMCs from healthy individuals (n = 24) and RA patients (n = 34) (a, representative images; b, statistical analysis). c Expression level of Gαq assessed by qPCR and normalized to β-actin in PBMCs from HC and RA patients. Mann–Whitney test compared data between two groups. d Correlation coefficient between Gαq expression and CD19⁺CD24^hiCD38^hi B-cell frequencies analyzed using the Spearman test (n = 58). **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Breg regulatory B cell, HC healthy controls, RA rheumatoid arthritis