Cellular response to basic protein and T suppressor cells in multiple sclerosis

Peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and two control groups, patients with neurologic diseases other than MS and healthy individuals, were examined for their cellular response to basic protein (BP), suppressor cell activity elicited by concanavalin A (ConA) and enumeration of T gamma cells. Lymphocytes from patients with active and chronic progressive MS showed the highest blastogenic stimulation in response to BP, the lowest ConA-induced suppression and the lowest absolute and relative number of T gamma cells. Lymphocytes from patients with nonactive or slowly progressive MS showed BP blastogenic stimulation similar to or slightly higher than that of the control groups. The ConA suppressor activity and the absolute and relative number of T gamma cells in the nonactive MS group were within normal ranges. The results indicate that although hypersensitivity to BP may be accompanied by deficient immunoregulatory activity, there is no pattern in the sequence of events. In addition, in some instances, changes in the immunoregulatory cells occurred with little or no effect on the cellular response to the neural antigen.