title: ALS: cytokine profile in cerebrospinal fluid T-cell clones.
abstract: T -cells are present in the spinal cord from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and could attack neurons or activate microglia through secretion of cytokines. We report that interferon (IFN)-gamma, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 could not be detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 15 ALS patients and 23 out of 25 controls with a multiplexed cytometric bead assay. In vivo activated T-cell clones were established from CSF (n = 26) and blood (n = 21) of one ALS patient. The proliferative capacity of CSF T-cell clones was lower than that of T-cell clones from blood (p = 0.0007). All CD4+ CSF T-cell clones produced IFN-gamma, compatible with a predominant T helper (h) 1 phenotype, but several T-cell clones also produced Th2 cytokines. These data suggest that in vivo activated intrathecal T-cells can be induced to secrete cytokines which may play a role in ALS.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. trygve.holmoy@medisin.uio.no
authors.forename: Trygve
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Holmøy
authors.forename: Per M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Roos
authors.forename: Espen Østhagen
authors.initials: EØ
authors.lastname: Kvale
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines