Expression of CCR7 and CD45RA in CD4+ and CD8+ subsets in cerebrospinal fluid of 134 patients with inflammatory and non-inflammatory neurological diseases

We investigated CD45RA and CCR7 expression in CD4(+) and CD8(+) subsets of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytes, both immediately ex vivo and after stimulation, from 134 patients with a variety of inflammatory and non-inflammatory neurological diseases. Most inflammatory diseases had a higher CD4(+):CD8(+) ratio and higher percentage of effector memory T cells (T-EM) than non-inflammatory controls, excluding active infection. Moreover, we found that patients with highly elevated cell counts in the CSF tended to have a lower percentage of central memory T cells (T-CM) than patients with low or absent pleocytosis, with a concomitant increase in T-EM. We also found that samples with elevated IgG index or presence of oligoclonal bands had a significantly higher CD4(+):CD8(+) ratio than normal samples, consistent with increased CD4(+) help for intrathecal IgG synthesis by B cells. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.