Flow cytometric analysis of in vitro proinflammatory cytokine secretion in peripheral blood from multiple sclerosis patients.
The cytokines, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-2 (IL-2) are important endogenous proinflammatory proteins and have been linked to disease activity in multiple sclerosis. In this study, we use flow cytometric methodology to compare the secretion of IFN-gamma, IL-2, and TNF-alpha from peripheral blood-derived T cells of multiple sclerosis patients to the secretion in healthy controls. The percentages of IFN-gamma, IL-2, and TNF-alpha secreting cells are not significantly different between multiple sclerosis patients and controls. However, the TNF-alpha secreting CD3 cell percentage is correlated with the IFN-gamma and IL-2 secreting CD3 cell percentages in multiple sclerosis patients. In the controls, only the TNF-alpha secreting CD3 cell percentage is correlated with IFN-gamma. These findings show that correlated secretion of cytokines occurs in multiple sclerosis and suggest that concerted intercytokine interactions may play an important role in the disease.
Nguyen
L T
LT
Department of Pharmaceutics, State University of New York at Buffalo 14260, USA.
Ramanathan
M
M
Munschauer
F
F
Brownscheidle
C
C
Krantz
S
S
Umhauer
M
M
Miller
C
C
DeNardin
E
E
Jacobs
L D
LD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D017252:CD3 Complex; D016207:Cytokines