title: Effects of amantadine treatment on in vitro production of interleukin-2 in de-novo patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, University of Lübeck School of Medicine, Germany. kpwnib@box-k.nih.gov
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Wandinger
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hagenah
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Klüter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rothermundt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vieregge
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D015259:Dopamine Agents; D007376:Interleukin-2; D016753:Interleukin-10; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D000547:Amantadine