T cell subsets in multiple sclerosis. A longitudinal study of exacerbating-remitting cases.

Twenty-four untreated MS patients with exacerbating-remitting disease were longitudinally studied for T-cell subset distribution within peripheral blood, using monoclonal antibodies OKT3, OKT4 and OKT8. A decreased percentage of OKT8 reactive cells, with a correlative increase of the OKT4/OKT8 ratio, was detected in relapsing MS patients, in most cases within 2 weeks before and 1 week after the onset of relapse. Longitudinal analysis of individual fluctuations allowed to detect during relapse an increase of OKT4/OKT8 ratio over the value recorded during remission in 78% of MS patients. Only 50% of patients however exhibited an OKT4/OKT8 ratio exceeding the 5% confidence upper limit of healthy control values. Relapse was more often associated with T-cell subset abnormalities in patients who suffered several attacks during the period of study. MS patients in remission, when considered as a group did not show significant abnormalities of the T-cell subset balance, although some individuals did present with wider T-cell subset fluctuations than healthy controls.