Multiple sclerosis-lymphocyte transformation with multiple sclerosis and normal brain myelin basic protein and...

Area of Science:

• Neuroimmunology
• Cellular Immunology

Background:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system.
• The role of immune responses to central nervous system antigens in MS pathogenesis remains under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the sensitization of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from MS patients to various brain subcellular fractions.
• To determine if immune reactivity to brain components is a primary factor in MS.

Main Methods:

• Preparation of myelin, synaptosomal, and microsomal fractions, along with myelin basic protein, from normal and MS brains using sucrose density gradient centrifugation.
• Incubation of these fractions with PBMCs from acute and chronic MS patients, patients with other neurological diseases, and healthy controls.
• Assessment of PBMC transformation as a measure of immune response.

Main Results:

• No significant increase in PBMC transformation was observed in acute MS patients when exposed to any brain fractions.
• A small increment in PBMC transformation was noted in two out of six chronic MS patients in the presence of several fractions.
• These findings suggest no primary role for immunity to brain antigens in MS.

Conclusions:

• The study provides no evidence that immunity to antigens in normal or MS brain fractions is of primary pathogenetic importance in multiple sclerosis.
• A potential secondary immune response may develop in some chronic MS patients after prolonged disease duration.