Assessment of changes in immune measures of multiple sclerosis patients treated with laquinimod.
Laquinimod is a novel orally active agent with immunomodulatory properties that was shown to be effective in suppressing disease activity in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients. Though many mechanisms of action of laquinimod have been described, little is known about the in vivo effects of laquinimod on the functionality of circulating human peripheral blood mononuclear cell populations. We assessed both phenotypical and functional measures of PBMC in a prospective longitudinal analysis comparing laquinimod and placebo treated cohorts. We determined that there were no significant changes in the relative proportion of T-cells, B-cells, monocytes & macrophages, NK-cells, dendritic cells or FoxP3(+) CD25(hi) T-regs in laquinimod treated patients. There were also no significant differences in the proliferative response to PHA or tetanus antigen, or in the inflammatory cytokine bias of these responses. These data demonstrated that there were no significant changes in immune function of PBMC in patients receiving two years of continuous laquinimod therapy who retained a full complement of the major populations of circulating PBMC and retained their capacity to respond to immunologic stimuli.
Department of Neurology, Multiple Sclerosis Research Division, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, McKibben, Los Angeles, CA 90033, United States. Electronic address: blund@usc.edu.
Brett T
BT
Lund
Eve E
EE
Kelland
Liat
L
Hayardeny
Oren
O
Barilan
Wendy
W
Gilmore
Leslie P
LP
Weiner
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007157:Immunologic Surveillance / Q000276:immunology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015363:Quinolones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015363:Quinolones; C476223:laquinimod
Immune measures; Laquinimod; MS oral therapy; PBMC