Markers of Activated T Lymphocytes and T Cell Receptor Gamma/ Delta+ in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

摘要

We studied interferon-γ (IFN-γ), a-tumor necrosis factor (α-TNF) and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum of 18 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 10 subjects with other neurological diseases (OND). We also studied the cerebrospinal-fluid CD 69 expression, and T cells with T cell receptor (TcR) γ/δ+. We found an increase of IFN-γ (14.0 ± 3.5 U/ml) and GM-CSF (8.0 ± 3.4 pg/ml) levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients compared to the OND group (p < 0.005 and p < 0.01, respectively). The frequency of detectable cerebrospinal-fluid and serum α-TNF was similar in patients with MS and with OND. The cerebrospinal-fluid CD69 expression in lymphocytes was significantly higher in MS patients (15.0 ± 9.9) than in the control group (3.7 ± 6.2; p < 0.005). Comparable serum levels of IFN-γ and GM-CSF were detected in patients with MS and in OND subjects. No significant difference in the incidence of TcR γ/δ+ in the cerebrospinal fluid was found between the two groups. These results indicate an activation of T lymphocytes and macrophages in patients with MS. Our data do not suggest a role for an increased incidence of TcR γ/δ+. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that these T cells could be present at the plaque site