MONOCYTE PHENOTYPE IN BLOOD AND CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID - COMPARTMENT-SPECIFIC PATTERN IS UNRELATED TO NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE

An immunocytochemical study of surface and cytoplasmic markers of the monocyte/macrophage lineage was undertaken on peripheral blood (PB) an d cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cells in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) or other neurological diseases (OND) and in three healthy control s. Size and granularity were assessed by means of cytofluorimetric ana lysis. Fewer monocytes were positive for complement receptors 1 and 3, myeloperoxidase, KiM6, IOM-3 and CD14 in CSF than in PB. Only DR-posi tive monocytes were present with the same frequency in the two compart ments. There was no difference in the monocyte phenotype between patie nts and healthy controls. Furthermore, there was no difference between patients with MS or OND. Cytofluorimetric analysis showed that in CSF , regardless of clinical status, few cells displayed the physical feat ures of blood monocytes. A population of granular and large granular c ells that was not normally present among PB mononuclear cells was reco gnized in the CSF. A large proportion of these cells was able to adher e to plastic and - when sorted - displayed the morphology and surface markers of monocyte lineage. The results of our study demonstrate comp artment-specific differences in the monocyte phenotype between CSF and PB but suggest that these changes may be unrelated to the investigate d neurological diseases.