Hierarchies of T cell responsiveness are reflected in the distribution of effector T cells in viral meningitis.

The vaccinia-virus-immune cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response, associated with H-2Kk in B10,A(2R) [KkDb] mice, is much more potent than that occurring in the context of H-2Db. This differential reactivity is true for T-cells recovered either from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of mice injected intracerebrally (i.c.) with a low dose of virus or from spleen populations primed by intravenous (i.v.) inoculation of a large amount of virus. Further stimulation of CSF inflammatory cells in vitro for 7 days under limiting dilution conditions indicated that the hierarchy of cytotoxic T-cell activity was a function of the relative frequencies of H-2Kk- and H-2Db-restricted lymphocytes. We therefore conclude that the immune response gene effect described previously for cells found in lymphoid tissue is also expressed in a virus-induced inflammatory exudate in the central nervous system.