A variation in reactivity levels was found, with the same effector cells (effector A) showing higher

reactivity, as in the previous experiment. The results given are for the ADCC activity with NK values (reactivity without antibodies) subtracted. CD8+ selleck products cells were also tested as effector cells and, as expected, the activity without antibodies was overall at a negligible level, although with low, yet detectable ADCC activity for effector A cells and anti-HERV-H/F Gag antibodies. The results for both types of effector cells are shown in Fig. 5 both as increments where results with preimmune sera are subtracted from the results with immune sera and also as the value in folds (immune sera/preimmune sera). We find that increments are the most accurate and instructive values, as artificially increased values may result from calculating folds, when the denominator is below 1·0. The causative agent(s) initiating MS continues to evade exposure of their nature. The processes leading to cell death are also incompletely understood, although parts of the process are known, thus offering possibilities for different types of intervention in the course or the symptoms of the disease. Cytotoxicity reactions are not investigated greatly, either for the types of possible effector cells or for the antibodies/epitopes involved, although these reactions

may play a significant role in MS pathogenesis by killing CNS cells expressing the epitopes. The type of effector cells gaining most attention recently have been CD8+ T cells ABC294640 research buy rather than CD4+ T cells [14, 15], which for several years were regarded as the main participants

in the disease processes [16], due in part to extensive investigations based on the animal model of brain inflammation, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). This model has some similarities but also significant differences from MS, illustrated markedly by the lack of efficacy of clinical MS trials targeting CD4+ T cells [17]. Different types of cytotoxic activities of possible significance are due to NK [18] or ADCC, both executed mainly by CD56+ cells. In particular, the latter type of Sodium butyrate cytotoxicity may be worthwhile studying, as increased production of oligoclonal antibodies against both known and unknown epitopes (including HERV and herpesvirus epitopes) is one of the characteristic and puzzling findings in MS [19-21]. For several years we have grown blood lymphocytes from MS patients in our laboratory [9]. Some of these lymphocytes, particularly when sourced from MS patients in relapse, have changed the growth pattern into continuously growing B lymphoblastoid cell cultures expressing and producing endogenous retroviruses, predominantly HERV-H/F, and also HERV-W, together with low amounts of Epstein–Barr virus proteins.