Antigenic stimulation of active E-rosette-forming lymphocytes in multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Lymphocytes from 73 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, 58 patients with other neurological diseases (OND), 7 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 34 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 10 patients with other diseases were tested for reactivity to brain antigens by the active E-rosette test. Apart from those treated with steroids, all but one of the MS patients, all the SLE patients, and all the RA patients responded to low doses (i.e., 0.1–5 pg total protein) of an acidic extract of MS myelin (MSBP) and of a partially purified protein fraction of MS brain (peak 2). Forty MS patients, one SLE patient, and none of the RA patients responded to an acidic extract of control myelin. Thirty-eight percent of patients with other neurological diseases showed stimulation by both MS and control BP, but none of them responded to MS peak 2 antigen. The results thus indicate a similarity in the response of MS, SLE, and RA patients' lymphocytes to MS brain antigens, but not to normal brain material.