CSF cells in multiple sclerosis: monoclonal antibody analysis and relationship to peripheral blood T-cell subsets.

Mononuclear cells were analyzed in CSF and blood of 102 patients with MS. In CSF, the majority (78%) of cells were T lymphocytes (T3+), and the ratio of inducer (T4+) to suppressor/cytotoxic (T8+) cells was 2:1. No characteristic alterations in CSF phenotypes could be related to changes in circulating T8 cells or to disease activity. In a group of 75 patients, CSF cell count was higher in patients with low numbers of circulating T8 cells than in those with normal T8 cells. Thus, decreases in suppressor cells in the blood of MS patients are associated with CSF pleocytosis but not with fluctuations in the ratio of different subsets in CSF. Furthermore, large numbers of T8 cells are not sequestered in CSF when these cells are decreased in peripheral blood.