Introduction: Previous studies have shown the existence of either cellular or humoral MBP-reactive elements up to 5 years after spinal cord injury (SCI), but not the presence of both after 10 years.
Materials and methods: Twelve SCI patients, with more than 10 years of evolution, and 18 healthy blood donors were studied. Lymphocyte proliferation (colorimetric-BrdU ELISA assay) and antibody titers against MBP (ELISA Human IgG MBP-specific assay) were assessed.
Results: SCI patients presented a significant T-cell proliferation against MBP (lymphocyte proliferation index: 3.7 ± 1.5, mean ± SD) compared to control individuals (0.7 ± 0.3; P < 0.001). Humoral response analysis yielded a significant difference (P < 0.0001) between the antibody titers of controls and SCI patients. A significant correlation between cellular and humoral responses was observed. Finally, patients with an ASIA B presented the highest immune responses.
Conclusion: This work demonstrates, for the first time, the existence of both cellular and humoral responses against MBP in the chronic stages (>10 years) of injury.