Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in cynomolgus monkeys

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis was induced in macaques. T cell clones infiltrated into the brain lesion area were compared with those in blood. Intradermal immunization of macaques with brain white matter derived from healthy macaque in combination with pertussis toxin, induced neurological symptoms in two macaques. One died on day 25 after immunization, whereas the other survived. Gross examination of the brain from the dead macaque, showed clear hemorrhagic lesions in the white matter. Hematological analysis showed that drastic T cell response was induced in macaques immunized with white matter, but not in control macaques. Flow cytometric analysis of blood cells from the affected macaques demonstrated an increase of CD4 and CD8 T cell populations expressing the CD69 early activation marker. Single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of T cell receptor beta chain showed T cell clones infiltrated into the brain lesion, which were different from those found in the peripheral blood of the same monkey. The present paper shows that SSCP analysis of TCR is useful in studying clonality of T cells infiltrating into the brain tissue of macaque with EAE.