Broader anti-EBV TCR repertoire in multiple sclerosis: disease specificity and treatment modulation.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has long been associated with the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS patients have elevated titers of EBV-specific antibodies in serum and show signs of CNS damage only after EBV infection. Regarding CD8+ T-cells, an elevated but ineffective response to EBV was suggested in MS patients, who present with a broader MHC-I-restricted EBV-specific T-cell receptor beta chain (TRB) repertoire compared to controls. It is not known whether this altered EBV response could be subject to dynamic changes, e.g., by approved MS therapies, and whether it is specific for MS. 1317 peripheral blood TRB repertoire samples of healthy donors (n=409), patients with MS (n=710) before and after treatment, patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (n=87), myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (n=64) and Susac's syndrome (n=47) were analyzed. Apart from MS, none of the evaluated diseases presented with a broader anti-EBV TRB repertoire. In MS patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, EBV reactivation coincided with elevated MHC-I-restricted EBV-specific TRB sequence matches. Therapy with ocrelizumab, teriflunomide or dimethyl fumarate reduced EBV-specific, but not CMV-specific MHC-I-restricted TRB sequence matches. Together, this data suggests that the aberrant MHC-I-restricted T-cell response directed against EBV is specific to MS with regard to NMO, MOGAD and Susac's Syndrome and that it is specifically modified by MS treatments interfering with EBV host cells or activated lymphocytes.

Soluble CD27 is an intrathecal biomarker of T-cell-mediated lesion activity in multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: Soluble CD27 is a promising cerebrospinal fluid inflammatory biomarker in multiple sclerosis. In this study, we investigate relevant immune and neuro-pathological features of soluble CD27 in multiple sclerosis. METHODS: Protein levels of soluble CD27 were correlated to inflammatory cell subpopulations and inflammatory cytokines and chemokines detected in cerebrospinal fluid of 137 patients with multiple sclerosis and 47 patients with inflammatory and non-inflammatory neurological disease from three independent cohorts. Production of soluble CD27 was investigated in cell cultures of activated T and B cells and CD27-knockout T cells. In a study including matched cerebrospinal fluid and post-mortem brain tissues of patients with multiple sclerosis and control cases, levels of soluble CD27 were correlated with perivascular and meningeal infiltrates and with neuropathological features. RESULTS: We demonstrate that soluble CD27 favours the differentiation of interferon-γ-producing T cells and is released through a secretory mechanism activated by TCR engagement and regulated by neutral sphingomyelinase. We also show that the levels of soluble CD27 correlate with the representation of inflammatory T cell subsets in the CSF of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and with the magnitude of perivascular and meningeal CD27 + CD4 + and CD8 + T cell infiltrates in post-mortem central nervous system tissue, defining a subgroup of patients with extensive active inflammatory lesions. INTERPRETATION: Our results demonstrate that soluble CD27 is a biomarker of disease activity, potentially informative for personalized treatment and monitoring of treatment outcomes.

Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis: Recent Advances.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) is increasingly considered a treatment option for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune demyelinating and degenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). AHSCT persistently suppresses inflammation and improves the disease course in large proportions of patients with relapsing-remitting (RR) MS. Aim of this article is to review the relevant new knowledge published during the last 3 years. RECENT FINDINGS: Laboratory studies reported confirmatory and new insights into the immunological and biomarker effects of AHSCT. Retrospective clinical studies confirmed excellent outcomes in RRMS, showing possible superior effectiveness over standard therapies and suggesting a possible benefit in early secondary progressive (SP) MS with inflammatory features. New data on risks of infertility and secondary autoimmunity were also reported. Further evidence on the high effectiveness and acceptable safety of AHSCT strengthens its position as a clinical option for aggressive RRMS. Further research is needed to better define its role in treatment-naïve and progressive forms of MS, ideally within randomised clinical trials (RCTs).

Alemtuzumab-induced immune phenotype and repertoire changes: implications for secondary autoimmunity.

Alemtuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that causes rapid depletion of CD52-expressing immune cells. It has proven to be highly efficacious in active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis; however, the high risk of secondary autoimmune disorders has greatly complicated its use. Thus, deeper insight into the pathophysiology of secondary autoimmunity and potential biomarkers is urgently needed. The most critical time points in the decision-making process for alemtuzumab therapy are before or at Month 12, where the ability to identify secondary autoimmunity risk would be instrumental. Therefore, we investigated components of blood and CSF of up to 106 multiple sclerosis patients before and after alemtuzumab treatment focusing on those critical time points. Consistent with previous reports, deep flow cytometric immune-cell profiling (n = 30) demonstrated major effects on adaptive rather than innate immunity, which favoured regulatory immune cell subsets within the repopulation. The longitudinally studied CSF compartment (n = 18) mainly mirrored the immunological effects observed in the periphery. Alemtuzumab-induced changes including increased numbers of naïve CD4+ T cells and B cells as well as a clonal renewal of CD4+ T- and B-cell repertoires were partly reminiscent of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation; in contrast, thymopoiesis was reduced and clonal renewal of T-cell repertoires after alemtuzumab was incomplete. Stratification for secondary autoimmunity did not show clear immununological cellular or proteomic traits or signatures associated with secondary autoimmunity. However, a restricted T-cell repertoire with hyperexpanded T-cell clones at baseline, which persisted and demonstrated further expansion at Month 12 by homeostatic proliferation, identified patients developing secondary autoimmune disorders (n = 7 without secondary autoimmunity versus n = 5 with secondary autoimmunity). Those processes were followed by an expansion of memory B-cell clones irrespective of persistence, which we detected shortly after the diagnosis of secondary autoimmune disease. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that (i) peripheral immunological alterations following alemtuzumab are mirrored by longitudinal changes in the CSF; (ii) incomplete T-cell repertoire renewal and reduced thymopoiesis contribute to a proautoimmune state after alemtuzumab; (iii) proteomics and surface immunological phenotyping do not identify patients at risk for secondary autoimmune disorders; (iv) homeostatic proliferation with disparate dynamics of clonal T- and B-cell expansions are associated with secondary autoimmunity; and (v) hyperexpanded T-cell clones at baseline and Month 12 may be used as a biomarker for the risk of alemtuzumab-induced autoimmunity.

Long-term follow-up after lymphodepleting autologous haematopoietic cell transplantation for treatment-resistant systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: Autologous haematopoietic cell transplantation (AHSCT) improves immunologic dysfunction in patients with SLE. However, the curative potential of this therapy remains uncertain. This study reports outcomes in SLE patients receiving a lymphodepleting, reduced intensity regimen for AHSCT in SLE. METHODS: Eight patients with SLE refractory to treatment, including i.v. cyclophosphamide (CYC), were enrolled. Five had LN and three CNS involvement as primary indications for transplant. Haematopoietic cell mobilization with CYC, G-CSF and rituximab was followed by collection of CD34+ positively selected cells. The conditioning regimen consisted of concurrent administration of CYC, fludarabine and rituximab. All immunosuppressive medications were discontinued at the start of mobilization and CS were rapidly tapered after the transplant. RESULTS: Five of eight patients achieved a complete response, including a decline in the SLEDAI to zero, which was sustained in four patients for a median of 165 months (range 138-191). One patient achieved a partial response, which was followed by relapse at month 18. Two patients with nephritis and underlying comorbidities in most organs had early deaths from infection and multiorgan failure. AHSCT resulted in profound lymphodepletion, followed by expansion of Treg cells and repopulation of naive T and B cells. Patients with a complete response showed a sustained suppression of the SLE-associated IFN-induced gene signature, marked depletion of memory and plasmablast B cells and resultant sustained elimination of anti-dsDNA antibody. CONCLUSION: Durable clinical and serologic remissions with suppression in the IFN gene signature can be achieved in refractory SLE following lymphodepleting AHSCT. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00076752.

Defective CD19+CD24hiCD38hi transitional B-cell function in patients with relapsing-remitting MS.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by central nervous system (CNS) infiltration of T and B cells, excess inflammatory cytokine and chemokine production and failure of immune regulation. CD19+CD24hiCD38hi transitional B cells producing interleukin (IL)-10 have been shown to suppress interferon-γ (IFNγ) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNFα) production by CD4+ T cells and to be dysfunctional in autoimmune arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that transitional B-cell-dependent immune regulation could be defective in MS and examined their function in healthy subjects and patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). METHODS: A total of 62 healthy donors and 21 RRMS subjects donated peripheral blood for the study. IL-10-producing B cells, IFNγ and TNFα-producing T cells and proliferating T cells were quantified by flow cytometry. RESULTS: In healthy individuals, CD19+CD24hiCD38hi transitional B cells produce more IL-10 than CD19+CD24+CD38+ naive and CD19+CD24hiCD38- memory B cells and are able to suppress CD4+ T-cell proliferation and IFNγ and TNFα-production. In subjects with RRMS, CD19+CD24hiCD38hi transitional B cells produce significantly less IL-10 and to fail to suppress effector T-cell function. CONCLUSION: CD19+CD24hiCD38hi transitional B cells physiologically represent the most potent regulatory B-cell subset and are functionally defective in patients with RRMS, an abnormality that may contribute to the immune pathological process.

Epstein-Barr Virus and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Clinical Significance in Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Multiple Sclerosis.

INTRODUCTION: Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) conditioning as treatment of active multiple sclerosis (MS) is rapidly increasing across Europe (EBMT registry data 2017). Clinically significant Epstein-Barr virus reactivation (EBV-R) following AHSCT with ATG for severe autoimmune conditions is an underrecognized complication relative to T-cell deplete transplants performed for hematological diseases. This retrospective study reports EBV-R associated significant clinical sequelae in MS patients undergoing AHSCT with rabbit ATG. METHODS: Retrospective data were analyzed for 36 consecutive MS-AHSCT patients at Kings College Hospital, London. All patients routinely underwent weekly EBV DNA polymerase chain reaction monitoring and serum electrophoresis for monoclonal gammopathy (MG or M-protein). EBV-R with rising Epstein-Barr viral load, M-protein, and associated clinical sequelae were captured from clinical records. RESULTS: All patients had evidence of rising EBV DNA-emia, including 7 who were lost to long-term follow-up, with a number of them developing high EBV viral load and associated lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD). Nearly 72% (n = 18/29) developed de novo MG, some with significant neurological consequences with high M-protein and EBV-R. Six patients required anti-CD20 therapy (rituximab) with complete resolution of EBV related symptoms. Receiver operating characteristics estimated a peak EBV viremia of >500 000 DNA copies/mL correlated with high sensitivity (85.5%) and specificity (82.5%) (area under the curve: 0.87; P = .004) in predicting EBV-R related significant clinical events. CONCLUSION: Symptomatic EBV reactivation increases risk of neurological sequelae and LPD in MS-AHSCT. We recommend regular monitoring for EBV and serum electrophoresis for MG in MS patients in the first 3 months post-AHSCT.

Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Treatment-Refractory Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis: Position Statement from the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, disabling, immune-mediated, demyelinating and degenerative disease of the central nervous system. Approved disease-modifying therapies may be incompletely effective in some patients with highly active relapsing disease and high risk of disability. The use of immunoablative or myeloablative therapy followed by autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) has been investigated in retrospective studies, clinical trials, and meta-analyses/systematic reviews as an approach to address this unmet clinical need. On behalf of the American Society for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT), a panel of experts in AHCT and MS convened to review available evidence and make recommendations on MS as an indication for AHCT. A review of recent literature identified 8 retrospective studies, 8 clinical trials, and 3 meta-analyses/systematic reviews. In aggregate, these studies indicate that AHCT is an efficacious and safe treatment for active relapsing forms of MS to prevent clinical relapse, magnetic resonance imaging-detectable lesion activity, and worsening disability and to reverse disability without unexpected adverse events. Based on the available evidence, the ASBMT recommends that treatment-refractory relapsing MS with high risk of future disability be considered a "standard of care, clinical evidence available" indication for AHCT. Collaboration of neurologists with expertise in treating MS and transplantation physicians with experience performing AHCT for autoimmune disease is crucial for ensuring appropriate patient selection and optimizing transplantation procedures to improve patient outcomes. Transplantation centers in the United States and Canada are strongly encouraged to report baseline and outcomes data on patients receiving AHCT for multiple sclerosis to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research.

Hematopoietic stem cell therapy for autoimmune diseases - Clinical experience and mechanisms.

With accumulating evidence and improved outcomes along with recognition that modern biological therapies are not universally effective, require chronic administration and have high acquisition costs, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has become an emerging direction for cell therapy in autoimmune diseases (ADs). The goal of this therapy is to induce medication-free remissions by resetting the immune system into a naïve and self-tolerant state through eradication of the autoreactive immunologic memory and profound re-configuration of the immune system induced by the transplant procedure. Safety of HSCT has generally improved by implementing internal quality management and external accreditation. Inter-disciplinary guidelines for patient selection, transplant technique and supportive care along with greater center experience should optimize safe and appropriate delivery of HSCT in specific ADs. In this review, we discuss the current role and future perspectives of HSCT in AD, focusing on recent published clinical and scientific studies and recommendations in the field.

Intense immunosuppression followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a therapeutic strategy in aggressive forms of multiple sclerosis.

In the majority of relapsing multiple sclerosis patients, the disease can be quite easily controlled by already available, approved therapies. There are, however, some aggressive cases who continue to have clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity in spite of the treatment. These are the cases who may now receive benefit from intense immunosuppression followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT). In this review, we describe the method and the rationale of aHSCT, the more recently published studies that demonstrate its efficacy in selected multiple sclerosis cases, the problems related to safety and the transplant-related mortality risk of the procedure. A description of the ideal patient who can take advantage of aHSCT is outlined and, finally, the ongoing studies which are near to completion or are close to starting are briefly reported.

Programmed death 1 is highly expressed on CD8+ CD57+ T cells in patients with stable multiple sclerosis and inhibits their cytotoxic response to Epstein-Barr virus.

Growing evidence points to a deregulated response to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the central nervous system of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) as a possible cause of disease. We have investigated the response of a subpopulation of effector CD8+ T cells to EBV in 36 healthy donors and in 35 patients with MS in active and inactive disease. We have measured the expression of markers of degranulation, the release of cytokines, cytotoxicity and the regulation of effector functions by inhibitory receptors, such as programmed death 1 (PD-1) and human inhibitor receptor immunoglobulin-like transcript 2 (ILT2). We demonstrate that polyfunctional cytotoxic CD8+ CD57+ T cells are able to kill EBV-infected cells in healthy donors. In contrast, an anergic exhaustion-like phenotype of CD8+ CD57+ T cells with high expression of PD-1 was observed in inactive patients with MS compared with active patients with MS or healthy donors. Detection of CD8+ CD57+ T cells in meningeal inflammatory infiltrates from post-mortem MS tissue confirmed the association of this cell phenotype with the disease pathological process. The overall results suggest that ineffective immune control of EBV in patietns with MS during remission may be one factor preceding and enabling the reactivation of the virus in the central nervous system and may cause exacerbation of the disease.

NEDA status in highly active MS can be more easily obtained with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation than other drugs.

The no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) composite measure has emerged as one attractive new target of therapies in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), consisting of the following features: (1) no relapses, (2) no disability progression, and (3) no magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity (new or enlarging T2 lesions or Gd-enhancing lesions). Achievement of NEDA status in patients receiving a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) seems to be an ambitious but ideal goal for therapies in RRMS. Recently, published post hoc analyses of clinical trials reported percentages of RRMS patients maintaining the NEDA status after 2 years of therapy ranging between 13% and 46%. Long-term assessment of NEDA patients in real-life settings showed very low probability to be NEDA in the long run. Against this scenario, immunoablative therapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) demonstrated the potential to maintain a much higher proportion of NEDA patients at 2 years (ranging from 78% to 83%) and also at 5 years (ranging from 60% to 68%). This is even more relevant when considering that MS patients who underwent aHSCT are much more active than patients usually enrolled in clinical trials. The emerging evidence of the efficacy of this therapeutic approach in early aggressive and treatment-resistant RRMS calls for the organization of a randomized comparative trial to fully evaluate the risk-benefit profile of aHSCT in patients with highly active MS not responding to DMTs.

Regulatory B cells are enriched within the IgM memory and transitional subsets in healthy donors but are deficient in chronic GVHD.

A subset of regulatory B cells (Bregs) in mice negatively regulate T-cell immune responses through the secretion of regulatory cytokines such as IL-10 and direct cell-cell contact and have been linked to experimental models of autoimmunity, inflammation, and cancer. However, the regulatory function of Bregs in human disease is much less clear. Here we demonstrate that B cells with immunoregulatory properties are enriched within both the CD19(+)IgM(+)CD27(+) memory and CD19(+)CD24(hi)CD38(hi) transitional B-cell subsets in healthy human donors. Both subsets suppressed the proliferation and interferon-γ production of CD3/CD28-stimulated autologous CD4(+) T cells in a dose-dependent manner, and both relied on IL-10 secretion as well as cell-cell contact, likely mediated through CD80 and CD86, to support their full suppressive function. Moreover, after allogeneic stem cell transplantation, Bregs from patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) were less frequent and less likely to produce IL-10 than were Bregs from healthy donors and patients without cGVHD. These findings suggest that Bregs may be involved in the pathogenesis of cGVHD and support future investigation of regulatory B cell-based therapy in the treatment of this disease.

Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation reduces abnormalities in the expression of immune genes in multiple sclerosis.

Autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (AHSCT) has been experimented as a treatment in patients affected by severe forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) who failed to respond to standard immunotherapy. The rationale of AHSCT is to 'reboot' the immune system and reconstitute a new adaptive immunity. The aim of our study was to identify, through a robust and unbiased transcriptomic analysis, any changes of gene expression in T-cells potentially underlying the treatment effect in patients who underwent non-myeloablative AHSCT for treatment of MS. We evaluated by microarray DNA-chip technology the gene expression of peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets sorted from patients with MS patients before AHSCT, at 6 months, 1 year and 2 years after AHSCT and from healthy control subjects. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that reconstituted CD8+ T-cells of MS patients at 2 years post-transplantation, aggregated together with healthy controls, suggesting a normalization of gene expression in CD8+ cells post-therapy. When we compared the gene expression in MS patients before and after therapy, we detected a large number of differentially expressed genes (DEG) in both CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell subsets at all time points after transplantation. We catalogued the biological function of DEG and we selected 27 genes known to be involved in immune function for accurate quantification of gene expression by real-time PCR. The analysis confirmed and extended with quantitative data, a number of significant changes in both the CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells subsets from MS post-transplant. Notably, CD8+ T-cells revealed more extensive changes in the expression of genes involved in effector immune responses.

Non-myeloablative autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation expands regulatory cells and depletes IL-17 producing mucosal-associated invariant T cells in multiple sclerosis.

Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been tried as one experimental strategy for the treatment of patients with aggressive multiple sclerosis refractory to other immunotherapies. The procedure is aimed at ablating and repopulating the immune repertoire by sequentially mobilizing and harvesting haematopoietic stem cells, administering an immunosuppressive conditioning regimen, and re-infusing the autologous haematopoietic cell product. 'Non-myeloablative' conditioning regimens to achieve lymphocytic ablation without marrow suppression have been proposed to improve safety and tolerability. One trial with non-myeloablative autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation reported clinical improvement and inflammatory stabilization in treated patients with highly active multiple sclerosis. The aim of the present study was to understand the changes in the reconstituted immune repertoire bearing potential relevance to its mode of action. Peripheral blood was obtained from 12 patients with multiple sclerosis participating in the aforementioned trial and longitudinally followed for 2 years. We examined the phenotype and function of peripheral blood lymphocytes by cell surface or intracellular staining and multi-colour fluorescence activated cell sorting alone or in combination with proliferation assays. During immune reconstitution post-transplantation we observed significant though transient increases in the proportion of CD4+ FoxP3+ T cells and CD56(high) natural killer cell subsets, which are cell subsets associated with immunoregulatory function. CD8+ CD57+ cytotoxic T cells were persistently increased after therapy and were able to suppress CD4+ T cell proliferation with variable potency. In contrast, a CD161(high) proinflammatory CD8+ T cell subset was depleted at all time-points post-transplantation. Phenotypic characterization revealed that the CD161(high)CD8+ T cells were mucosal-associated invariant T cells, a novel cell population originating in the gut mucosa but expressing the central nervous system-homing receptor CCR6. Detection of mucosal-associated invariant T cells in post-mortem multiple sclerosis brain white matter active lesions confirmed their involvement in the disease pathology. Intracellular cytokine staining demonstrated interferon γ and interleukin 17 production and lack of interleukin 10 production, a pro-inflammatory profile. Mucosal-associated invariant T cell frequency did not change in patients treated with interferon ß; and was more depleted after autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation than in patients who had received high-dose cyclophosphamide (n = 7) or alemtuzumab (n = 21) treatment alone, suggesting an additive or synergistic effect of the conditioning regime components. We propose that a favourably modified balance of regulatory and pro-inflammatory lymphocytes underlies the suppression of central nervous system inflammation in patients with multiple sclerosis following non-myeloablative autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation with a conditioning regimen consisting of cyclophosphamide and alemtuzumab.

Efficacy and safety of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation versus alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab or cladribine in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (StarMS): protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) is increasingly used as treatment for patients with active multiple sclerosis (MS), typically after failure of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). A recent phase III trial, 'Multiple Sclerosis International Stem Cell Transplant, MIST', showed that aHSCT resulted in prolonged time to disability progression compared with DMTs in patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS). However, the MIST trial did not include many of the current high-efficacy DMTs (alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab or cladribine) in use in the UK within the control arm, which are now offered to patients with rapidly evolving severe MS (RES-MS) who are treatment naïve. There remain, therefore, unanswered questions about the relative efficacy and safety of aHSCT over these high-efficacy DMTs in these patient groups. The StarMS trial (Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation versus Alemtuzumab, Ocrelizumab, Ofatumumab or Cladribine in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis) will assess the efficacy, safety and long-term impact of aHSCT compared with high-efficacy DMTs in patients with highly active RRMS despite the use of standard DMTs or in patients with treatment naïve RES-MS. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: StarMS is a multicentre parallel-group rater-blinded randomised controlled trial with two arms. A total of 198 participants will be recruited from 19 regional neurology secondary care centres in the UK. Participants will be randomly allocated to the aHSCT arm or DMT arm in a 1:1 ratio. Participants will remain in the study for 2 years with follow-up visits at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months postrandomisation. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients who achieve 'no evidence of disease activity' during the 2-year postrandomisation follow-up period in an intention to treat analysis. Secondary outcomes include efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness and immune reconstitution of aHSCT and the four high-efficacy DMTs. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was approved by the Yorkshire and Humber-Leeds West Research Ethics Committee (20/YH/0061). Participants will provide written informed consent prior to any study specific procedures. The study results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and abstracts will be submitted to relevant national and international conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN88667898.

Innovative cellular therapies for autoimmune diseases: expert-based position statement and clinical practice recommendations from the EBMT practice harmonization and guidelines committee.

Autoimmune diseases (ADs) are characterized by loss of immune tolerance, high chronicity, with substantial morbidity and mortality, despite conventional immunosuppression (IS) or targeted disease modifying therapies (DMTs), which usually require repeated administration. Recently, novel cellular therapies (CT), including mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), Chimeric Antigen Receptors T cells (CART) and regulatory T cells (Tregs), have been successfully adopted in ADs. An international expert panel of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the International Society for the Cell and Gene Therapy, reviewed all available evidence, based on the current literature and expert practices, on use of MSC, CART and Tregs, in AD patients with rheumatological, neurological, and gastroenterological indications. Expert-based consensus and recommendations for best practice and quality of patient care were developed to support clinicians, scientists, and their multidisciplinary teams, as well as patients and care providers and will be regularly updated.

Primary progressive multiple sclerosis developing in the context of young onset Parkinson's disease.

We report a patient with young onset Parkinson's disease (PD) and a heterozygous point mutation in parkin (c.1000C>T; p.Arg334Cys). After 8 years he developed pyramidal signs and reinvestigation demonstrated MRI and laboratory findings supportive of a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) with a primary progressive (PP) clinical course. This is a previously un-described association of young onset PD with PPMS. Imaging clearly dates the occurrence of each disease as chronologically separate phenomena. There is not currently evidence for shared causation or pathogenesis between the two neurological disorders but we will follow with interest the emerging genetic characterization of parkin in both PD and MS.

Meningeal inflammation plays a role in the pathology of primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

The primary progressive form of multiple sclerosis is characterized by accrual of neurological dysfunction from disease onset without remission and it is still a matter of debate whether this disease course results from different pathogenetic mechanisms compared with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Inflammation in the leptomeninges has been identified as a key feature of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and may contribute to the extensive cortical pathology that accompanies progressive disease. Our aim was to investigate the extent of perivascular and meningeal inflammation in primary progressive multiple sclerosis in order to understand their contribution to the pathogenetic mechanisms associated with cortical pathology. A comprehensive immunohistochemical analysis was performed on post-mortem brain tissue from 26 cases with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. A variable extent of meningeal immune cell infiltration was detected and more extensive demyelination and neurite loss in the cortical grey matter was found in cases exhibiting an increased level of meningeal inflammation. However, no tertiary lymphoid-like structures were found. Profound microglial activation and reduction in neuronal density was observed in both the lesions and normal appearing grey matter compared with control cortex. Furthermore, cases with primary progressive multiple sclerosis with extensive meningeal immune cell infiltration exhibited a more severe clinical course, including a shorter disease duration and younger age at death. Our data suggest that generalized diffuse meningeal inflammation and the associated inflammatory milieu in the subarachnoid compartment plays a role in the pathogenesis of cortical grey matter lesions and an increased rate of clinical progression in primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Resetting tolerance in autoimmune disease.

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is effective, but mechanisms are elusive.