T cell vaccine shows promise in preliminary trial.

2003 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - A vaccine composed of anti-myelin T cells was well-tolerated by patients and resulted in stable or decreased values on the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), according to a report in Clinical and Experimental Immunology.

"Myelin-reactive T cells are considered to play an essential role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system," explained A. Van Der Aa and colleagues at the Limburgs Universitair Centrum in Diepenbeek.

They continued, "We have previously studied the effects of T cell vaccination (TCV), a procedure by which MS patients are immunized with attenuated autologous myelin basic protein (MBP)-reactive T cell clones. Because several myelin antigens are described as potential autoantigens for MS, T cell vaccines incorporating a broad panel of antimyelin reactivities may have therapeutic effects. Previous reports have shown an accumulation of activated T cells recognizing multiple myelin antigens in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of MS patients."

The investigators isolated CD4+ T cells from the cerebrospinal fluid of five MS patients. The cells were cocultured with recombinant interleukin 2 (IL-2) for 5-8 weeks, until the cell lines were mainly TCR-alpha-beta+CD4+ cells of the Th1/Th0 type. The patients received three immunizations with the irradiated vaccine (10[superscript]7 cells) at 2-month intervals.

"The vaccinations were tolerated well and no toxicity or adverse effects were reported," stated Van Der Aa and associates.

None of the patients experienced a relapse during treatment and EDSS scores remained stable or decreased. Antivaccine immune ...