T Cell Repertoire Dynamics during Pregnancy in Multiple Sclerosis

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Autoimmunity
• Pregnancy Immunology

Background:

• Identifying T cell clones in human autoimmunity is difficult.
• Autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) often show reduced activity during pregnancy.
• Pregnancy offers a unique model to study immune repertoire dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize immunomodulation at the single-clone level during pregnancy in MS patients.
• To explore changes in the T cell repertoire during active and inactive autoimmune disease.
• To assess the potential of T cell repertoire profiling for discovering disease-associated clones.

Main Methods:

• Sequencing of the T cell repertoire in healthy women and female MS patients.
• Longitudinal analysis of immune repertoire changes throughout pregnancy.
• Identification and tracking of specific T cell clones.

Main Results:

• T cell clonality significantly decreases from the first to third trimester in MS patients.
• Only a small number of T cell clones show substantial modulation during pregnancy per patient.
• Relapse-associated T cell clones contract during pregnancy and expand postpartum.

Conclusions:

• Pregnancy leads to reduced T cell repertoire dominance in MS.
• Specific T cell clones associated with disease activity can be identified and tracked.
• T cell repertoire profiling during pregnancy may serve as a tool for autoimmunity research.