Myelin basic protein reactive Th2 T cells are found in acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a postinfectious illness of th e central nervous system (CNS), is thought to be an autoimmune disease. Her e, we characterized the cytokines secreted by myelin-reactive T cells gener ated from patients with ADEM. The frequency of MBP-reactive T cell lines wa s ten-fold higher in patients with ADEM compared to patients with encephali tis and normal subjects. Whereas there was no significant IFN-gamma secreti on, the predominant cytokine secreted by MBP-reactive T cell lines was IL-4 in patients with ADEM. In contrast, IL-4 secretion was only rarely detecte d in the controls. The presence of high frequencies of MBP-reactive IL-4 se creting T cells in subjects with ADEM during their recovery phase may be si milar to myelin reactive IL-4 secreting T cells observed during the spontan eous recovery of animals with EAE. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.