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.