Cytometric profiling in various clinical forms of multiple sclerosis with respect to CD21+, CD32+, and CD35+ B and T cells

Abstract

BackgroundWe aimed to evaluate the frequency of various types of B and T cells expressing CD21, CD32, and CD35 in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical courses.MethodsPeripheral blood mononuclear cell from 30 MS patients (17 relapsing remitting [RRMS], six secondary progressive [SPMS], and seven primary progressive MS [PPMS]) and 18 healthy subjects were analyzed. All patients were in acute attack. Healthy controls were matched for age and gender ratio. The frequencies of various subsets of B and T cells were determined using flow cytometry.ResultsThe frequency of CD4+T cells was lower in MS patients compared to control subjects (41.14 ± 9.45% vs. 46.88 ± 6.98%, respectively, P < 0.05). The CD32+ fraction of CD4+T cells and the CD21+ fraction of CD8+T cells were higher in MS patients (2.85 ± 3.72% vs. 1.06 ± 0.62% for CD32+CD4+T cells, 2.71 ± 1.86% vs. 1.16 ± 0.99% for CD21+CD8+T cells in MS patients and control subjects, respectively, P < 0.05). After dividing subjects by type of MS course, higher values of these two T cell subsets were found in SPMS patients compared to control subjects (P < 0.05). Further, RRMS patients had lower levels of CD32+CD4+T cells than SPMS patients and also they had lower levels of CD32+CD8+T cells than PPMS patients (P < 0.05). However, neither the expression of CD35 on T cells nor the various B cell subsets were statistically different between the compared groups.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate that T cell subsets expressing CD21 and CD32 may differ with respect to the presence or clinical forms of MS disease. By contrast, CD35+T cells and different subsets of B cells are not altered in various MS clinical courses.

CD32-RNA Co-localizes with HIV-RNA in CD3+ Cells Found within Gut Tissues from Viremic and ART-Suppressed Individuals

“…Whether or not up-regulation of CD32-RNA is a direct result of HIV transcription or more global T-cell activation is not known. Taken together these findings are consistent with previous reports that the majority of HIV-infected cells in tissues are CD4+ T cells [13, 21, 22], and that in uninfected individuals, surface protein expression of CD32 on resting T cells is rare (~1%) and primarily seen following cellular activation [20, 23, 24].…”

Enrichment of the HIV reservoir in CD32+ CD4 T cells occurs early in blood and tissue

“…Our finding of similar frequency and phenotype of CD32+ cells from HIV+ individuals and uninfected controls is therefore interesting. Although unstimulated CD4 T cells are not generally expected to express CD32 11 , we are not the first to observe low-level expression on CD4 T cells from healthy controls 24 . The similar level of CD32 expression between the HIV-infected (treated and untreated) and uninfected groups studied here and the lack of correlation between CD32+ CD4 T cell frequency and reservoir size suggests that infection or integration events may not be the primary driver of inter-individual variation in CD32 expression level, which may also be impacted by genetic and other host factors.…”

CD32-Expressing CD4 T Cells Are Phenotypically Diverse and Can Contain Proviral HIV DNA

“…The frequency of CD32 low cells did not differ from pre-therapy levels (median 5.55%, range 1.09–8.05%) or healthy controls (median 7.00%, range 3.00–10.9%; Figure 5 A; p = 0.26). Although unstimulated CD4 T cells are not generally expected to express CD32 ( 10 ), we are not the first to observe low-level expression of CD32 on CD4 T cells from healthy controls ( 42 ). The frequency of CD32 high cells was elevated during PHI relative to healthy controls (median 0.02%, range 0.01–0.09% versus median 0.007%, range 0.005–0.015%; p = 0.0004) but had decreased to similar levels ( p < 0.0001) following 1 year of ART (Figure 5 A).…”