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Levels of Interleukin‐15‐Expressing Blood Mononuclear Cells Are Elevated in Multiple Sclerosis
Author(s) -
Мikhail Pashenkov,
Manal Mustafa,
Pia Kivisäkk,
Hans Link
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3083.1999.00598.x
Subject(s) - peripheral blood mononuclear cell , multiple sclerosis , pathogenesis , cytokine , cerebrospinal fluid , interleukin , immunology , immunocytochemistry , medicine , monocyte , biology , in vitro , biochemistry
Interleukin‐15 (IL‐15) is a novel IL‐2‐like cytokine expressed by cells of the monocyte/macrophage and epithelial lineages. Cytokines might be involved in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Using immunocytochemistry, we analysed spontaneous expression of IL‐15 by peripheral blood (PB) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) mononuclear cells (MNC) from patients with MS, other neurological diseases (OND) and healthy controls. IL‐15‐ positive peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) were elevated in patients with MS compared to healthy controls ( P < 0.05). The elevation of IL‐15‐ positive PBMNC was restricted to patients with chronic progressive MS and not observed in patients studied during the relapsing‐remitting phase of MS. The numbers of IL‐15‐ expressing PBMNC correlated with the duration and disability of MS ( r = 0.45, P < 0.001, and r = 0.39, P < 0.01, respectively). IL‐15 was undetectable in CSF MNC, and ELISA showed low CSF levels of IL‐15 in occasional patients with MS and OND. IL‐15 is a potent growth factor for γδ T cells, but there was no correlation between IL‐15 expression by PBMNC and percentage of γδ T cells in blood from the MS patients. Together, these data demonstrate that IL‐15 expression by PBMNC is upregulated in the chronic stage of MS.