Fig. 1

MS patients show deficiency of CD19⁺CD24^hiCD38^hi cells during relapse. The percentage and the absolute number of CD19⁺CD24^hiCD38^hi B cells were measured in MS patients undergoing relapse (n = 15) and patients in remission (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 8). PBMC was isolated from fresh peripheral blood and surface stained for flow cytometry. a Representative flow cytometry dot plot of CD24 and CD38 expression in total CD19+ B cells. b Scatter plots showing the percentage of CD19⁺CD24^hiCD38^hi B cells in MS-relapse, MS-remission, and HC. A significant reduction in the frequency of CD19⁺CD24^hiCD38^hi B cells was observed in MS-relapse compared to MS-remission and HC (relapse vs remission: p = 0.0006, relapse vs healthy: p = 0.0004). All values show mean ± SEM. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey’s multiple comparison post hoc analysis. ***p < 0.001. c The absolute number of CD19⁺CD24^hiCD38^hi B cells in MS-relapse was significantly reduced compared to MS-remission (p = 0.009). All values show mean ± SEM. Data were analyzed by unpaired t test. **p < 0.01. Ex vivo data were collected from peripheral blood samples taken during the time course of this study