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We describe two families with conjugal multiple sclerosis.Onset of symptoms in the husbands occurred 11 and 17 years after onset of relapsing/remitting symptoms in their wives.There were no similarities regarding clinical manifestations of MS within each family.Evaluation of T-cell repertoire by enumeration of cells secreting interferon-gamma in response to proteolipid protein(PLP),myelin basic protein(MBP),and to various synthetic MBP peptides revealed similar patterns of T-cell reactivity within the families both in MS-affected parents and unaffected children.Genomic HLA-DR-DQ typing showed that T-cell reactivity was independent of HLA class II phenotype.Analysis of B-cell responses in blood showed low numbers of cells secreting IgG,IgA,or IgM antibodies against MBP,PLP,myelin-associated glycoprotein,and myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein both in MS-affected and unaffected family members.In conclusion,our study of two families with conjugal MS has shown a dominant T-cell response against the same MBP peptide within the family both in MS- affected parents and unaffected children,and this T-cell response seems to be independent of the HLA class II phenotypes of the family members. |
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