A longitudinal study of immunological parameters in multiple sclerosis: cell-mediated immunity and complement profiles.

In a 1 year longitudinal study of twenty-two patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and twenty-one normal control subjects, peripheral blood leucocytes were stimulated with lipoplysaccharide (LPS), a B cell mitogen, and phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) a T cell mitogen. EA- and EAC-rosette formation was also performed to assay null and B cells respectively, and the serum concentration of the C3 component of complement was determined. For ten multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with stationary phases of the disease, percentages of lymphocytes significantly lower than normal were found with normal leucocyte counts in the peripheral blood. Lymphocyte stimulation by PHA was significantly lower than normal in stable MS, while neither LPS stimulation nor EA- and EAC-rosette formation differed significantly from the controls. The C3 serum concentration was found to be significantly higher than normal. For nine out of twelve MS patients with a fluctuating clinical course, the C3 concentration was elevated during remission, but dropped to normal levels during relapse. None of the other parameters studied could be correlated with the clinical course.