Lymphocyte studies in a patient with chronic polyradiculoneuropathy

We studied immunologic abnormalities in one patient with chronic polyradiculoneuropathy and the effects of immune suppression and plasmapheresis on the clinical course and immune abnormalities. Increased helper T cells and B cells with deficiency of T suppressor cells to B-cell but not to T-cell targets were detected. The patient's blood lymphocytes, but not the controls' lymphocytes, proliferated in vitro on culturing them with P2 antigen in the presence of the patient's CSF. Plasmapheresis combined with corticosteroid and azathioprine reversed the majority of immune abnormalities to normal but did not decrease the patient's lymphocyte-P2 proliferative response; nor did it improve clinical status.