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.
Department of Pharmaceutics, State University of New York at Buffalo 14260, USA.
L T
LT
Nguyen
M
M
Ramanathan
F
F
Munschauer
C
C
Brownscheidle
S
S
Krantz
M
M
Umhauer
C
C
Miller
E
E
DeNardin
L D
LD
Jacobs
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