Deficit of suppressor T cells in active multiple sclerosis.

Suppressor T cells in forty-seven patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were studied by indirect immunofluorescence by means of monoclonal antibodies directed at T-cell subsets. Suppressor cell numbers were depressed in patients with acute exacerbation of MS and in patients with continuous progressive deterioration. In one case the T-cell anomaly was observed one week before the onset of the acute phase; it had been absent 4 months before exacerbation.