Longitudinally persistent cerebrospinal fluid B-cells resist treatment in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

B-cells are key contributors to chronic autoimmune pathology in multiple sclerosis (MS). Clonally related B-cells exist in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), meninges, and central nervous system (CNS) parenchyma of MS patients. Longitudinally stable CSF oligoclonal band (OCB) antibody patterns suggest some local CNS B-cell persistence; however, the longitudinal B-cell dynamics within and between the CSF and blood remain unknown. We sought to address this by performing immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region repertoire sequencing on B-cells from longitudinally collected blood and CSF samples of MS patients (n=10). All patients were untreated at the time of the initial sampling; the majority (n=7) were treated with immune modulating therapies 1.2 (+/-0.3 SD) years later during the second sampling. We found clonal persistence of B-cells in the CSF of five patients; these B-cells were frequently immunoglobulin (Ig) class-switched and CD27+. We identified specific blood B-cell subsets that appear to provide input into CNS repertoires over time. We demonstrate complex patterns of clonal B-cell persistence in CSF and blood, even in patients on high-efficacy immune modulating therapy. Our findings support the concept that peripheral B-cell activation and CNS-compartmentalized immune mechanisms are in part therapy-resistant.