Decreases in Interleukin-4 Secretion by Invariant CD4−CD8−Vα24JαQ T Cells in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Relapsing–Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

The cytokine profile of invariant CD4−CD8−Vα24JαQ T cells from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) was compared with that of healthy controls. CD4−CD8−Vα24+ T cells from the peripheral blood of 12 patients with relapsing–remitting MS (RR-MS), 5 patients with progressive MS (CP-MS), and 9 control individuals were directly sorted into single wells and expanded in vitro for analysis of IL-4 and IFN-γ secretion; 315 Vα24JαQ T cell clones were generated and their T cell receptor (TCR) sequenced. T cell functionality was determined by examining cytokine secretion upon TCR cross-linking. RR-MS patients exhibited lower frequencies of IL-4 secreting CD4−CD8−Vα24JαQ T cell clones than patients with CP-MS and controls. No differences in IFN-γ secretion were observed between the groups. An IL-4 positive cytokine profile could be correlated to the cloning efficiency of the Vα24JαQ T cells. We conclude that alterations in cytokine secretion patterns of CD4−CD8−Vα24JαQ T cells may influence the immune system and thus contribute to relapsing–remitting MS.