title: Changes in plasma cytokines induced by interferon-beta1a treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: It has been postulated that the efficacy of interferon-beta1a in multiple sclerosis may be due to the induction of type 2 cytokines. In this report we demonstrate that after 3 months of therapy, there is no sustained alteration in the plasma levels of type 1 (IL-12, IL-1beta and TNF-alpha) or type 2 (IL-6, IL-10) cytokines, but rather repeated induction of both with each injection. Little alteration is seen in the profile of cytokines induced with time, despite a decline in side effects. This suggests that IFN-beta1a causes repeated transient modulation of cytokine expression, but no sustained deviation in the type 1/type 2 balance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Victoria Hospital, UK. m.duddy@queens-belfast.ac.uk
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Duddy
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Crockard
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hawkins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D016899:Interferon-beta