title: Postpartum-activation of multiple sclerosis is associated with down-regulation of tolerogenic HLA-G.
abstract: We used microarray analysis to obtain insights into the immuno-regulatory mechanisms controlling pregnancy-associated MS disease activity. We studied expression levels of 5000 immune-related genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with relapsing-remitting MS during pregnancy and postpartum and in comparison to controls. In the microarray analysis, HLA-G, a non-classical major histocompatibility molecule mainly attributed with immune-tolerogenic functions, was found differentially regulated between MS patients and controls. The finding was corroborated and extended by real-time PCR, flow-cytometry and ELISA in a larger patient sample. The results delineate an important role for the immune-tolerogenic molecule HLA-G in modulating disease activity and pregnancy-related changes in MS patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and MediCity Research Laboratory, University of Turku, PO Box 52, 20521Turku, Finland. laura.airas@utu.fi
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Airas
authors.forename: Tuomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nikula
authors.forename: Yu-Hwa
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lahesmaa
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wiendl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I