engleski

Increased perforin expression in multiple sclerosis patients during exacerbation of disease in peripheral blood lymphocytes

The expression of perforin (P) in subpopulations of the PBL of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in stable and active phase of disease was investigated, by simultaneous detection of P (intracellular molecule) and cell surface antigens. A significant increase of CD4+P+ (p<0.02) and CD16+P+ (p<0.001), and decrease of CD56+P+ (p<0.05) cells in active MS was found. In active disease there is highly significant increase (p<0.001) of average fluorescence intensity (AFI) for P in CD4dim+ cells, and these cells are larger in size and have higher granularity (p<0.05) compared to CD4bright+ Pdim+ cells. Surprisingly, there was no CD25+P+ cells in either groups of MS patients. These results show that CD4+P+ cells are upregulated in active disease in cell number, in the level of P expression per cell, and in the level of cell activation (increase in cell size and granularity). It is suggested that CD4+P+ cytotoxic cells may play a role in the pathogenetic mechanisms of MS.

perforin; multiple sclerosis; peripheral blood lymphocytes; NK; CTL

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