Cytometric profiling in various clinical forms of multiple sclerosis with respect to CD21(+), CD32(+), and CD35(+) B and T cells

BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the frequency of various types of B and T cells expressing CD21, CD32, and CD35 in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical courses. METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cell from 30 MS patients (17 relapsing remitting [RRMS], six secondary progressive [SPMS], and seven primary progressive MS [PPMS]) and 18 healthy subjects were analyzed. All patients were in acute attack. Healthy controls were matched for age and gender ratio. The frequencies of various subsets of B and T cells were determined using flow cytometry. RESULTS: The frequency of CD4(+)T cells was lower in MS patients compared to control subjects (41.14 ± 9.45% vs. 46.88 ± 6.98%, respectively, P < 0.05). The CD32(+) fraction of CD4(+)T cells and the CD21(+) fraction of CD8(+)T cells were higher in MS patients (2.85 ± 3.72% vs. 1.06 ± 0.62% for CD32(+)CD4(+)T cells, 2.71 ± 1.86% vs. 1.16 ± 0.99% for CD21(+)CD8(+)T cells in MS patients and control subjects, respectively, P < 0.05). After dividing subjects by type of MS course, higher values of these two T cell subsets were found in SPMS patients compared to control subjects (P < 0.05). Further, RRMS patients had lower levels of CD32(+)CD4(+)T cells than SPMS patients and also they had lower levels of CD32(+)CD8(+)T cells than PPMS patients (P < 0.05). However, neither the expression of CD35 on T cells nor the various B cell subsets were statistically different between the compared groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that T cell subsets expressing CD21 and CD32 may differ with respect to the presence or clinical forms of MS disease. By contrast, CD35(+)T cells and different subsets of B cells are not altered in various MS clinical courses.