title: Elevated serum levels of interleukin-12 in chronic progressive multiple sclerosis.
abstract: The serum levels of the heterodimeric cytokine IL-12 were measured by solid-phase ELISA in a group of healthy subjects, multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with secondary chronic progressive course of the disease and patients suffering from other neurological diseases (OND). Serum levels of IL-12 higher than 5 pg/ml (limit of sensitivity of the assay) were only found in 2/30 (6.7%) of the healthy subjects and none of the 8 subjects with OND. In contrast, IL-12 was found in the majority of CPMS patients' sera (10/15, 66.7%) with values ranging between 5.5 and 18.6 pg/ml. These results are suggestive for an up-regulated production of IL-12 in CPMS.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, University of Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nicoletti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Patti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cocuzza
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zaccone
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nicoletti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Marco
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reggio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000097:blood; D016037:Single-Blind Method
chemical_list: D018664:Interleukin-12