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1: Eur J Neurol. 2008 Jul;15(7):749-53. Epub 2008 May 15.Click here to read Links

Immunophenotyping in Tourette syndrome--a pilot study.

Möller JC, Tackenberg B, Heinzel-Gutenbrunner M, Burmester R, Oertel WH, Bandmann O, Müller-Vahl KR.

Department of Neurology, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany. carsten.moeller@med.uni-marburg.de <carsten.moeller@med.uni-marburg.de>

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The cause of Tourette syndrome (TS) is not precisely known, although several lines of evidence point at an involvement of the immune system in its pathogenesis. RESULTS: Here, we report the results of a pilot study investigating frequently analysed lymphocyte surface markers in 20 adult patients with TS (16 males; 37.3 +/- 15.8 years) and 20 matched controls (16 males; 37.5 +/- 15.3 years). Statistical analysis revealed significant differences for the investigated lymphocyte surface markers. The difference in CD69+/CD22+-B cells (23.0 +/- 10.5% vs. 13.1 +/- 6.1%; P = 0.001) and in CD95+/CD4+-T cells (41.5 +/- 12.1% vs. 24.6 +/- 10.0%; P = 0.0001) was still significant after Bonferroni-Holm correction. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary data indicate that TS may be associated with an increased peripheral immune activity.

PMID: 18484991 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]