LYME NEUROBORRELIOSIS - CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID CONTAINS MYELIN PROTEIN-REACTIVE CELLS SECRETING INTERFERON-GAMMA

The mechanisms causing neurological manifestations and influencing the outcome in patients infected with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi are unknown. To study the involvement of autoimmune mechanisms in pat ients with Lyme neuroborreliosis (LN), ELIspot assays were used to det ermine the numbers of T lymphocytes which, upon stimulation with the m yelin components myelin basic protein (MBP) and proteolipid protein (P LP) and two MBP peptides, responded by the secretion of interferon-gam ma (IFN-gamma). LN patients had compared to patients with other neurol ogical,diseases and tension headache in CSF elevated numbers of MBP- a nd PLP-reactive T helper type 1 (Th1) like IFN-gamma secreting cells a t mean frequencies of about 1 per 1300 and 1 per 1500 CSF cells, respe ctively, Numbers were elevated up to 5 months after successful treatme nt of LN, and they did not correlate with clinical findings, Autoreact ive T cells were not elevated in the LN patients' blood, These finding s match the previously reported elevation of anti-MBP Ige antibody sec reting cells exclusively in CSF in LN, The IFN-gamma release by autore active cells and the secretion of autoantibodies in the CSF may have r elevance for development and outcome of LN.