Autoreactive T lymphocytes in multiple sclerosis determined by antigen-induced secretion of interferon-gamma.

T Olsson; W W Zhi; B Höjeberg; V Kostulas; Y P Jiang; G Anderson; H P Ekre; H Link

doi:10.1172/JCI114800

Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

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Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

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Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

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Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

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Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

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Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

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Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

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Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

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Published in Volume 86, Issue 3 on September 1, 1990
J Clin Invest. 1990;86(3):981–985. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI114800.
© 1990 The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Published September 1, 1990 - Version history

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease with unknown cause characterized by inflammation and demyelination in the central nervous system. Although an autoimmune pathogenesis has been suggested, there are no conclusive data on the number of T cells autoreactive with myelin antigens in MS compared to controls. We showed that T lymphocytes secreting interferon-gamma in response to possible target autoantigens are severalfold more common among PBL mononuclear cells in patients with MS than in patients with aseptic meningitis and tension headache. On average T cells reactive with myelin basic protein (MBP), two different MBP peptides, or with proteolipid protein amounted to 2.7-5.2/10(5) PBL from MS patients. MBP-reactive T cells were still more frequent among mononuclear cells isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF; 185/10(5) CSF cells). We concluded that T cells reactive with myelin autoantigens are strongly increased in MS. This approach to detect them could allow definition of immunodominant T cell epitopes in individual MS patients, and thereby enable further development towards specific immunotherapy.

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