title: Identification of a B cell-dependent subpopulation of multiple sclerosis by measurements of brain-reactive B cells in the blood.
abstract: B cells are increasingly coming into play in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we screened peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), MS, other non-inflammatory neurological, inflammatory neurological or autoimmune diseases, and healthy donors for their B cell reactivity to CNS antigen using the enzyme-linked immunospot technique (ELISPOT) after 96 h of polyclonal stimulation. Our data show that nine of 15 patients with CIS (60.0%) and 53 of 67 patients with definite MS (79.1%) displayed CNS-reactive B cells, compared to none of the control donors. The presence of CNS-reactive B cells in the blood of the majority of patients with MS or at risk to develop MS along with their absence in control subjects suggests that they might be indicative of a B cell-dependent subpopulation of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany. Electronic address: stefanie.kuerten@uni-wuerzburg.de.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuerten
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy I, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pommerschein
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy I, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Barth
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy I, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hohmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy I, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Milles
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy I, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Fabian W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Sammer
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy I, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Cathrina E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wunsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Damiano M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Rovituso
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schroeter
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy I, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Addicks
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; Cellular Technology Limited, Shaker Heights, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Paul V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Lehmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000276:immunology*; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology*
keywords: Autoimmunity;; B cells;; Blood;; ELISPOT;; Multiple sclerosis