Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-28-2021
Abstract
Dimethyl fumarate (DMF), approved for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), exerts immune-mediated mechanisms crucial for T-cell survival and migration, preferentially reducing CD8+ T cells.1 Although baseline absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) is considered the most critical predictor of developing lymphopenia,2 it was recently concluded that lymphocyte subset monitoring is not required for safety vigilance because T-cell subset reduction does not increase risks for serious infections.3 We present 2 young patients with RRMS, under DMF treatment, negative for HIV and SARSCoV-2 (by RT-PCR in nasal swab) and with normal follow-up white blood cell (WBC)/ALC counts, who developed severe herpes zoster (HZ) infection with normal ALC but low CD8+ and high CD56bright natural killer (NK) cells, and discuss the potential significance of T-cell immunophenotyping in HZ manifestation.
Recommended Citation
Anagnostouli, Maria; Velonakis, Georgios; and Dalakas, Marinos, "Aggressive Herpes Zoster in Young Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Under Dimethyl Fumarate: Significance of CD8" (2021). Department of Neurology Faculty Papers. Paper 247.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/neurologyfp/247
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
34049996
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author’s final published version in Volume 8, Issue 4, May 2021, Article number e1017.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1212/NXI.0000000000001017. Copyright © Anagnostouli et al.