Expression of adhesion molecules on peripheral lymphocytes predicts future lesion development in MS

The expression of adhesion molecules (alpha4beta1-integrin, LFA-1, ICAM-1) on T cells, measured by flow cytometry, was compared in different subtypes of multiple sclerosis (MS) and related to future lesion development as seen as delta T1 and T2 lesion load per year on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). LFA-1 and alpha4beta1-integrin showed higher expression on CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes in the secondary progressive compared to the relapsing-remitting (CD4: p <0.01, p=ns, p <0.05; CD8: p <0.001, p <0.001, p <0.001, respectively) and primary progressive MS phase (CD4: p <0.001, p <0.01, p <0.05; CD8: p <0.01, p <0.01, p <0.001, respectively). The adhesion molecule expression of alpha4- (r=0.31; p <0.05) and beta1-integrin (r=0.38; p <0.01) on CD4+ cells and of LFA-1beta on both CD4+ and CD8+ (r=0.28, p <0.05) and r=0.29; p