title: Correlation of serum IL-13 and IL-5 levels with clinical response to Glatiramer acetate in patients with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Glatiramer acetate (GA) is effective in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) presumably by the induction of an immunoregulatory T-cell response. We have previously shown that GA directly induces the Th2 cytokines IL-13 and IL-5 in T-cells in vitro. In the present study we compared the in vitro response to GA in healthy controls, untreated and GA-treated MS patients and tested whether the induction of IL-13 and IL-5 secretion is also detectable in the serum of 25 MS patients treated with GA. Patients were grouped into clinical responders and nonresponders in order to determine a possible correlation with the immunological response. As a result we found a significant increase of IL-13 in the serum of clinical GA-responders whereas IL-13 was not detectable in controls, untreated MS (P < 0.001) and nonresponders (P = 0.015). Similarly, GA-treatment increased serum levels of IL-5 (P = 0.001). The correlation of serum IL-5 and clinical response was also significant (P = 0.039), however, there was an overlap between the different groups. The selective induction of IL-13 and IL-5 but not IL-4 by GA treatment suggests that the specific biological functions of these cytokines might be important for the therapeutic mechanism of GA. Measurement of serum IL-13 and IL-5 levels is a simple and inexpensive tool for monitoring the response to GA in MS patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wiesemann
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klatt
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wenzel
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Heidenreich
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Windhagen
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D000068717:Glatiramer Acetate; D006801:Humans; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood*; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000097:blood*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D010455:Peptides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D018793:Interleukin-13; D015848:Interleukin-5; D010455:Peptides; D000068717:Glatiramer Acetate