title: Interleukin-8 is associated with acute and persistent dysfunction after optic neuritis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute optic neuritis is often in association with multiple sclerosis (MS). Proinflammatory cytokines trigger neuronal damage in neuroinflammatory disorders but their role in optic neuritis is poorly investigated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this work is to investigate the associations of intrathecal contents of proinflammatory cytokines with transient and persistent dysfunctions after optic neuritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 50 MS patients followed for up to six months, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of IL-1β, TNF and IL-8 were determined, along with clinical, neurophysiological and morphological measures of optic neuritis severity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Visual impairment, measured by high- and low-contrast visual acuity, and delayed visual-evoked potential (VEP) latencies were significantly correlated to IL-8 levels during optic neuritis. IL-8 at the time of optic neuritis was also associated with persistent demyelination and final axonal loss, inferred by VEP and optical coherence tomography measures, respectively. Contents of IL-8 were correlated to functional visual outcomes, being higher among patients with incomplete recovery. Multivariate analysis confirmed that IL-8 significantly predicted final visual acuity, at equal values of demographics and baseline visual scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study points to IL-8 as the main inflammatory cytokine associated with demyelination and secondary neurodegeneration in the optic nerve after optic neuritis.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Italy/Fondazione Santa Lucia/Centro Europeo per la Ricerca sul Cervello (CERC), Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Italy/Fondazione Santa Lucia/Centro Europeo per la Ricerca sul Cervello (CERC), Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Italy/Fondazione Santa Lucia/Centro Europeo per la Ricerca sul Cervello (CERC), Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Studer
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rocchi
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Italy/Fondazione Santa Lucia/Centro Europeo per la Ricerca sul Cervello (CERC), Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Macchiarulo
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Italy/Fondazione Santa Lucia/Centro Europeo per la Ricerca sul Cervello (CERC), Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Italy.
authors.forename: Ga
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marfia
authors.affiliation: Neuroimmunology Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology (INSpe), Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Furlan
authors.affiliation: Neuroimmunology Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology (INSpe), Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.affiliation: Clinica Oculistica, Dipartimento di Biopatologia, Università Tor Vergata, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mancino
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Italy/Fondazione Santa Lucia/Centro Europeo per la Ricerca sul Cervello (CERC), Italy centonze@uniroma2.it.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Centonze
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000473:pathology; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: C508606:CXCL8 protein, human; C508585:IL1B protein, human; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D016209:Interleukin-8; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
keywords: Cerebrospinal fluid; IL-8; OCT; inflammation; multiple sclerosis; visual-evoked potentials