Effects of amantadine treatment on in vitro production of interleukin-2 in de-novo patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
An involvement of immunological events in the process of neurodegeneration has frequently been reported. We investigated the cytokine producing capacity for interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in whole blood cultures of de-novo patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) at the time of first diagnosis and after oral amantadine treatment. Before treatment, productions of IL-2 and IFN-gamma were markedly decreased in PD patients compared to patients with major depressive disorder and healthy controls. After amantadine treatment, the in vitro IL-2 secretion defect was corrected to normal levels in half of the patients, and the increase in IL-2 production was correlated with an increase in IFN-gamma secretion. Our findings suggest that immunological abnormalities occur in the course of PD and that a formerly unappreciated therapeutic potential of amantadine may arise from its immunomodulatory effects on altered T cell function in patients with PD.
Wandinger
K P
KP
Institute of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, University of Lübeck School of Medicine, Germany. kpwnib@box-k.nih.gov
Hagenah
J M
JM
Klüter
H
H
Rothermundt
M
M
Peters
M
M
Vieregge
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000547:Amantadine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
D015259:Dopamine Agents; D007376:Interleukin-2; D016753:Interleukin-10; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D000547:Amantadine