Ebrahim Kouchaki - Department of Neurology, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Mahdi Salehi - Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Mohammad Reza Sharif - Department of Pediatrics, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Hassan Nikoueinejad - Nephrology and Urology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hossein Akbari - Trauma Research center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

Objective(s): Regulatory T cells, including CD۴+CD۲۵+Fox۳+ and CD۸+CD۲۸- cells play an important role in regulating the balance between immunity and tolerance. Since multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory autoimmune disease, regulatory T cells are considered to be involved in its pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the circulatory numbers of the two mentioned types of regulatory T cells and also their association with different clinical characteristics in ۸۴ multiple sclerosis patients. Materials and Methods: ۸۴ patients with multiple sclerosis and ۷۵ normal individuals were studied. Demographic and clinical information of all participants were collected via questionnaire and clinical examination as well as MRI. The peripheral blood frequency of two different subgroups of regulatory T cells (CD۴+ CD۲۵+Foxp۳+ and CD۸+CD۲۸- cells) were analyzed by flow cytometry using anti-human antibodies conjugated with CD۴-FITC / CD۲۵-PE/Foxp۳-PE-Cy۵, CD۳-PE/CD۸a-PE-Cy۵/CD۲۸-FITC. Results: The frequency of CD۴+CD۲۵+Foxp۳+ cells in multiple sclerosis patients was significantly less than that in healthy controls (P=۰.۰۰۶) and in mild forms less than that in sever forms (P=۰.۰۰۳). There was not any correlation between the frequency of regulatory T cells and different clinical variables. Conclusion: Our results showed that the number of CD۴+CD۲۵+Foxp۳+ cells decreases significantly in multiple sclerosis patients, which probably shows the regulatory role of these cells in multiple sclerosis.

CD۴+CD۲۵+Foxp۳+ -, Regulatory T cells, CD۸+CD۲۸- Regulatory T cells, Multiple Sclerosis