Figure 2.

GA-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses are differentially upregulated following GA therapy. CFSE-based proliferation assays were performed on longitudinal PBMC specimens obtained from five MS patients on daily GA therapy. (a) GA-specific proliferative responses from a representative patient (no. MS1) are shown at the pretreatment time point and at 3, 7, 11, and 15 months after the initiation of GA therapy. The data represent gated CD4⁺/CD8^– or CD8⁺/CD4^– T cells. CFSE staining is shown on the x axis and CD4 staining on the y axis. The gray populations represent nondividing cells. The numbers next to the darker populations represent the proliferating fraction of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. The mean background proliferation ranged from 0.29 to 4.36 in various experiments. (b) This graph represents longitudinal mean ΔPF values (± 2 SEM) of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell responses to GA, MBP, and TT from all five MS patients on GA therapy (Table 1). The pretreatment time point (0) and the 3-, 7-, and 11-month time points are shown. *Statistically significant increase of GA-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses, compared with those in the pretreatment specimens (P < 0.05).