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Analysis of effector CD4 (OX-40+) and CD8 (CD45RA+CD27-) T lymphocytes in active multiple sclerosis
1Multiple Sclerosis Clinic and Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Objective:
Recently, effector T-cell subpopulations have been identified that can be distinguished by expression of members of the TNF-R family: CD4+OX-40+ cells are CD4 helper-effector cells CD8+CD45RA+CD27 cells are CD8-killer-effector cells. We investigated whether these lymphocyte subsets were increased in the active phase of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Material And Methods:
Multiple colour immunofluorescence staining was performed on peripheral blood lymphocytes of 28 patients with active MS and of 29 healthy controls, followed by FACS analysis.
Results:
Frequencies of CD8-killer-effector cells showed a wide interindividual range in both groups and percentages of CD4 helper-effector cells were low. No significant difference between the groups was observed for these subsets, but CD8+CD45RA-CD27 were increased in MS. In healthy individuals, CD4 helper-effector cells correlated with the total percentages of memory cells. Moreover, CD4+ and CD8 memory cells were strongly correlated.
Conclusion:
The here described recently identified effector CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte subpopulations were not increased in clinically active MS. It is however still possible that in MS, myelin-specific encephalitogenic cells reside within these subsets.