Soluble and cell surface ICAM-3 in blood and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis: influence of methylprednisolone treatment and relevance as markers for disease activity.
OBJECTIVE
The expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-3 (ICAM-3), a member of the Ig supergene family, is restricted to immune competent cells. Expression of soluble and cell surface ICAM-3 (s- and c-ICAM-3) is preferentially seen in the state of low activation of the immune system. We studied the relevance of the expression levels of s- and c-ICAM-3 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood as markers for disease activity as well as the influence of high-dose methylprednisolone (MP) treatment upon the expression of s- and c-ICAM-3 in blood of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).


METHODS
A total of 33 patients (relapses n = 25, remission n = 8) with relapsing-remitting MS were included into the study. CSF and blood were acquired from all of them. Of the patients 24 were treated with high-dose MP. In those, blood was additionally collected at the 10th day of the therapy and after 3 months. Expression of c-ICAM-3 was determined by two colour FACS analysis, whereas the concentration levels of s-ICAM-3 were measured by ELISA.


RESULTS
In CSF we detected a significant decrease of the expression levels of c-ICAM-3 on CD3+ T cells in 25 patients suffering from an acute relapse in contrast to 8 patients with remission (P= 0.04). In comparison to the levels before treatment and after 3 months, at the 10th day of MP treatment we obtained highly significant changes of the expression values of c-ICAM-3 both on CD3+ T cells (P = 0.0004; P= 0.005) and CD14+ monocytes/macrophages (P =0.0006; P=0.008) on the 10th day of high-dose MP treatment from 24 MS patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The increase of ICAM-3 levels might indicate the anti-inflammatory effect of the MP treatment. It could be interesting to search for similar effects investigating the new immune modulatoring therapy forms of MS.
Kraus
J
J
Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Department of Neurology, Germany.
Oschmann
P
P
Engelhardt
B
B
Bauer
R
R
Schiel
C
C
Kern
A
A
Stolz
E
E
Traupe
A
A
Dorndorf
W
W
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D015415:Biomarkers; D017252:CD3 Complex; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D015415:Biomarkers; D017252:CD3 Complex; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; C483616:ICAM3 protein, human; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors; D008775:Methylprednisolone