Association between peripheral blood T cell subsets and clinical disability in multiple sclerosis patients.

Authors

Penju Liu, Wei Liu, Xiaoting Zhang, Peng Yuan

Published in

Frontiers in neurology. Volume 17. Pages 1843351. Epub Jul 20, 2026.

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated disorder involving complex interactions among adaptive and innate immune pathways. The relationship between peripheral blood T cell subsets and clinical disability remains inadequately characterized. This study investigated associations between T cell subsets (CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8 + ratio) and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores in MS patients.
We conducted a cross-sectional study of 48 MS patients who underwent EDSS scoring and flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood T cell subsets. Clinical and treatment-related characteristics were also collected. Correlations between T cell parameters and EDSS scores were analyzed using Spearman correlation and multivariable linear regression. Exploratory sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the potential influence of disease-modifying therapy (DMT) exposure on the association between CD4+/CD8 + ratio and EDSS.
Forty-eight MS patients (mean age 35.1 ± 5.8 years, 72.9% female) with mean EDSS score of 3.20 ± 1.50 were included. Mean CD4+/CD8 + ratio was 2.76 ± 1.08 and correlated negatively with EDSS scores (r = -0.345, p = 0.016). Stratified analysis showed progressive decline across disability groups: mild (EDSS 0-2.5): 3.19 ± 1.37; moderate (EDSS 3.0-4.5): 2.64 ± 0.81; severe (EDSS ≥ 5.0): 2.13 ± 0.56 (p = 0.050). In the selected covariate-adjusted multivariable model, the association between CD4+/CD8 + ratio and EDSS was attenuated (β = -0.350, p = 0.084). Exploratory treatment-related sensitivity analyses further suggested that this association may be influenced by DMT exposure.
CD4+/CD8 + ratio was negatively associated with clinical disability in this cross-sectional MS cohort, and stratified analysis showed a progressive decline across disability severity groups. These findings suggest that CD4+/CD8 + ratio may represent an exploratory peripheral immune indicator associated with disability status in MS.

PMID:
42548876
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 04 Aug 2026.

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