Detection of tumor necrosis factor-alpha-positive cells in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy.
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-positive cells constituted 1.6-18% and 8.2-23.5% of the total number of cerebrospinal fluid cells from six of 12 patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy and in all samples obtained from inflammatory cases, respectively. However, in non-inflammatory cases no TNF-alpha-positive cells were detected. These results suggest that some of the infiltrating CSF cells produce TNF-alpha, which plays a role in host immune defenses against causative agents including HTLV-I and in lesion formation within the central nervous system in inflammatory diseases.
Nakamura
S
S
Department of Neurology, Institute of Brain Diseases, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
Nagano
I
I
Yoshioka
M
M
Shimazaki
S
S
Onodera
J
J
Kogure
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha