title: Oligoclonal T lymphocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: We have investigated the T cell populations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of chronic progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Individual T cells from the CSF and blood were cloned before expansion and their clonotypes were defined by analysis of rearranged T cell receptor beta chain and gamma chain genes. 87 T cell clones from blood and CSF of two patients with chronic progressive MS were examined for common TCR gene rearrangement patterns. In one patient, 18 of 28 CSF-derived T cell clones demonstrated common TCR gene rearrangements indicating oligoclonal T cell populations; in the blood, two patterns were found twice among 26 T cell clones. In another patient, 5 of 27 CSF-derived clones had common TCR gene rearrangement patterns. In contrast, no common beta chain rearrangement pattern was found among 67 T cell clones derived from the blood or CSF of a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, among 20 clones from the CSF of a patient with herpes zoster meningoencephalitis, or among 66 clones from a normal subject. A subject with atypical, fatal MS of 8-mo duration was also studied and did not have oligoclonal T cells in the CSF or blood. These results demonstrate that distinct oligoclonal T cell populations can be found in the CSF immune compartment of subjects with nonmalignant inflammatory disease and they can create a new avenue for the investigation of the specificity of the T cell response within the central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hafler
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Duby
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Benjamin
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Seidman
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Weiner
mesh_terms: D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D006801:Humans; D008590:Meningoencephalitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics; D013344:Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell