title: Detection and treatment of activated T cells in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration.
abstract: Patients with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) offer the opportunity to explore the mechanisms underlying tumor immunity and immune-mediated neuronal degeneration. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for the PCD onconeural antigen cdr2 found in the blood of patients with PCD are likely to be effectors of PCD tumor immunity. Here, we suggest a role for CTLs in the autoimmune destruction of Purkinje neurons. More than 75% of the cells obtained from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of PCD patients were CD3+ alphabeta T cells. In patients with active/progressive disease, 20% to 40% of CSF cells were activated T cells, and the CD4+ helper cells were Th1-type cells. Three PCD patients were given tacrolimus, a specific inhibitor of activated T cells, which markedly reduced these cells in the CSF. Tacrolimus also reduced the number of activated cdr2-specific CTLs in the peripheral blood, but did not lead to tumor recurrence. We suggest that activated cdr2-specific CTLs in the CSF contribute to Purkinje degeneration in PCD, and that tacrolimus therapy may benefit patients with paraneoplastic neurological disease and other T cell-mediated autoimmune neurological disorders.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Darnell
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D020362:Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*