Lymphocytes in multiple sclerosis: correlation with CSF immunoglobulins and cold-reactive lymphocytotoxic antibodies

Lymphocyte profiles were studied in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and normal controls. Apart from cold-reactive lymphocytotoxic antibodies (LCA), which were elevated in MS patients, there was no difference between MS patients and normal controls in terms of lymphocyte subpopulations, serum immunoglobulins, or responses to mitogens. There was no correlation between LCA and any of the immunologic characteristics measured. However, there was a correlation between immunoglobulin-bearing cells in the peripheral blood of MS patients and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of immunoglobulin and CSF viral antibodies. These results suggest that cold-reactive lymphocytotoxic antibodies do not affect lymphocyte function in patients with MS, that antigens stimulating "local" central nervous system (CNS) antibody production may be located outside the CNS and that locally produced CNS antibody may be made by immunoglobulin-bearing cells that migrate to the CSF from the periphery after exposure to antigen.