Journal de cytologie et d'histologie

B Cells Accumulate in the Cerebrospinal Fluid in Inflammatory Neurological Diseases

Abstract

Viktoria Gredler and Markus Reindl

The contribution of B lymphocytes and their products to the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system is still not fully understood. Beside their role as precursors of antibody-secreting cells, B cells participate in the regulation of T cell activation through their antigen-presenting capacity, the production of cytokines and chemokines and the formation of ectopic germinal centers in intermeningeal spaces. This article reviews the current knowledge on B cells within the cerebrospinal fluid in inflammatory diseases affecting the central nervous system. Here, we will focus on two prototypical inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system: multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune-mediated inflammatory disease, and infection-triggered inflammation in Lyme neuroborreliosis.