Multiple Sclerosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Multiple Sclerosis, including details on diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, prognosis.

Inhibition of naive Th1 CD4+ T cells by glatiramer acetate in multiple sclerosis.

Kantengwa S, Weber MS, Juillard C, Benkhoucha M, Fellay B, Zamvil SS, Gougeon ML, Chofflon M, Lalive PH

Department of Neurology, Neuroimmunology Laboratories, University Hospital of Geneva, Micheli-du-Crest 24, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland.

We investigated whether glatiramer acetate (GA) treatment may affect Th1 differentiation at various T-cell maturation stages. Specifically, we analyzed the effect of in vivo GA treatment on intracellular synthesis of IL-2 and TNF-alpha by naive, memory and effector CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells by five-colour flow cytometry. Our data indicate that GA treatment downregulates/normalizes an accelerated Th1 differentiation of CD4(+) T cells in RRMS patients at all stages of T-cell maturation. Most notably, we conclude that, by altering naive, unprimed CD4(+) T cells, GA treatment appears to affect T-cell differentiation, at least in part, in an antigen-independent manner.

Published 2 April 2007 in J Neuroimmunol, 185(1): 123-9.
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