Relationship between clinical activity and lymphocyte subsets in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome

T lymphocytes are probably of pathogenic importance in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Blood samples from 31 patients with GBS and from 25 healthy controls were studied with flow cytometry. Subsets of the CD4 population were determined: CD4+CD29+ (helper-inducer) cells and CD4+CD45RA+ (naive or suppressor-inducer) cells. Recently, deviations of circulating CD8 populations have been noticed. Therefore, subsets of the CD8 population were also determined: CD8+CD11b dull (suppressor-effector) cells and CD8+ CD11b bright (cytotoxic-effector/NK) cells. During the active stage of GBS, significantly increased proportions of CD4+HLA-DR+ (activated CD4+) cells and CD4+CD29+ cells were found compared to those in control samples (p < 0.0005, p < 0.05, respectively). The proportion of CD8+CD11b dull cells was significantly lower than that in the control samples (p < 0.005). Sequential analysis showed a decrease in the proportion of CD4+HLA-DR+ cells and CD4+CD29+ cells from the active to the convalescent stage (p < 0.05, p < 0.005, respectively). The proportion of CD8+CD11b dull cells was low in GBS patients with high disease severity.