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Cytokine profile in interferon‐β treated multiple sclerosis patients: reduction of interleukin‐10 mRNA expressing cells in peripheral blood
Author(s) -
Andersson M.,
Khademi M.,
Wallström E.,
Olsson T.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-1331.1997.tb00407.x
Subject(s) - multiple sclerosis , medicine , interferon , cytokine , immunology , tumor necrosis factor alpha , interferon gamma , interleukin , interleukin 4
Treatment with interferon‐β reduces relapse rate, slows progression of neurological disability and reduces the number of active brain lesions observed with magnetic resonance imaging in relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis. Interferon‐β has antiviral properties, but in addition it affects the expression of several immunoregulatory genes, including genes for cytokines such as interferon‐γ and interleukin‐10. Cytokines are believed to be central in the pathologic process in multiple sclerosis, by regulating autoreactive T‐ and B‐cell responses. In this study we have determined effects of interferon‐β on the frequency of cells in peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid expressing mRNA for interferon‐γ, tumor necrosis factor‐α, interleukin‐4 and interleukin‐10 in a group of multiple sclerosis patients. All patients were treated for two months or more, since the beneficial effect of interferon‐β is not apparent until after several months of treatment. We detected a significant reduction of interleukin‐10 mRNA expressing cells in the peripheral blood during interferon‐β treatment compared with pretreatment values (10 vs 33 cells/10 5 ; p = 0.028) while the other investigated cytokines were not significantly affected. We conclude that there is a long term effect of interferon‐β on cytokine expression in multiple sclerosis patients. Its relation to the therapeutic effect is as yet not clear.