Elevated CD40 Ligand Expressing Blood T‐Cell Levels in Multiple Sclerosis Are Reversed by Interferon‐Beta Treatment

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of immunology Vol. 51; no. 3; pp. 312 - 320
• Main Authors: Teleshova, N, Bao, W, Kivisäkk, P, Ozenci, V, Mustafa, M, Link, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, U.K. and Cambridge, USA Blackwell Science Ltd 01.03.2000; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Antigens, CD20 - biosynthesis; b-Interferon; CD3 Complex - biosynthesis; CD4 Antigens - biosynthesis; CD4-CD8 Ratio; CD40 Antigens - biosynthesis; CD40 Antigens - blood; CD40 Antigens - immunology; CD40 Ligand; CD40L protein; CD8 Antigens - biosynthesis; Female; Flow Cytometry; Humans; Immunophenotyping; Interferon beta-1a; Interferon beta-1b; Interferon-beta - therapeutic use; Ligands; Lipopolysaccharide Receptors - biosynthesis; Male; Membrane Glycoproteins - biosynthesis; Membrane Glycoproteins - blood; Membrane Glycoproteins - immunology; Middle Aged; Multiple Sclerosis - blood; Multiple Sclerosis - immunology; Nervous System Diseases - immunology; Recombinant Proteins - pharmacology; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - metabolism
• ISSN: 0300-9475; 1365-3083
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-3083.2000.00688.x

Myelin protein reactive CD4+ T cells are considered to be involved in the proposed immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). One particularly important molecule for T‐cell activation is the CD40L (gp39) that is expressed on the surface of T cells. This study focuses on the CD40 and the CD40L expression on mononuclear cells prepared from blood from patients with MS, other neurological diseases (OND) and healthy subjects. Immunostaining followed by a three channel flow cytometry was adopted. Patients with MS had higher levels of CD3+CD40L+, CD4+CD40L+ and CD8+CD40L+ T cells compared to patients with OND and healthy subjects. Cross‐sectional comparisons revealed that the elevation of CD40L+ T cell subtypes was confined to the patients with untreated MS and not observed in the patients with MS treated with interferon‐β (IFN‐β). Follow up studies showed that levels of CD3+CD40L+ and CD4+CD40L+ T cells decreased in individual patients after the initiation of the IFN‐β treatment. The enhanced expression of CD40L on CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in patients with MS may implicate a role for this molecule in disease immunopathogenesis.