Gamma delta T lymphocytes in mumps meningitis patients.

Flowcytometric analysis on T-cell subpopulations in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 10 children with mumps meningitis (MM) revealed that the proportion of lymphocytes which bore the gamma delta T-cell receptor for antigen was significantly higher in CSF than in autologous and heterologous blood samples. gamma delta T-cell values in CSF of MM patients were also significantly higher than those calculated in CSF specimens from nine children with non-inflammatory neurological disorders. Whether and how the expanded CSF gamma delta T-lymphocyte subset, either CD8+ or double-negative (CD4-/CD8-), contributes to the eradication of mumps virus infection from the central nervous system represents a central focus of our ongoing research.