The clinical significance of lymphocytes activation hi patients with multiple sclerosis

Objective:To analyze the lymphocyte activation from patients with different activities of multiple sclerosis (MS) and its clinical signifiance. Methods: The positive percentage of CD69 and HLA-DR were determined on peripheral blood (PB) or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytes by flow cytometry from 28 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (relapses n - 20, remission n = 8) , 12 patients with relapse MS and 11 patients with relapse MS after glucocorticoid treatment. ResultS:The percentage of HLA-DR+ and CD3+ /HLA-DR+ on PB lymphocytes in relapses MS group were higher than in remission MS group and controls. The percentage of CD3+ /HLA-DR+ on PB lymphocytes in remission MS group were higher than in controls. The percentage of CD69+ , HLA-DR+ and CD3+ /HLA-DR+ were higher in CSF than in PB of patients with relapse MS. There was no significant correlation between the levels of CD69+ , HLA-DR+ , CDS+ /HLA-DR+ and the time of onset of clinical relapse, duration, clinical disability scale score(EDSS) . In patients with relapse MS, there was significant positive correlation between CD69+ expression on CSF lymphocytes and blood brain barrier damage, intravenous glucocorticoid treatment caused a significant changes in the positive percentage of HLA-DR on PB lymphocytes. Conclusion:The findings support that lymphocyte activation involvement of MS pathogenesis. Lymphocyte activation may be as a marker of disease activity in MS.