title: Increased serum level of IL-37 in patients with multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica.
abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common autoimmune disease of central nervous system in which neurodegenerative and inflammatory mechanisms cause alternate neurological impairments. Many inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were suggested as contributor in MS pathogenesis, and the balance between these opposing cytokines can regulate MS severity. IL-37, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, is the most recently identified member of IL-1 family, which acts as a natural inhibitor of innate immunity. However, the role of IL-37 in MS has not investigated so far. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to measure serum level of IL-37 in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). In a case-control study, plasma was collected from healthy controls (n = 49) and also patients with RRMS (n = 122) and NMO (n = 31). Serum level measurement of IL-37 was performed using enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) method. The serum levels of IL-37 were 247.46 ± 74.02 and 312.00 ± 86.72 and 114.63 ± 20.58 in RRMS and NMO patients and healthy controls, respectively, showing statistically significant difference between them (P = 0.00). Furthermore, we found a positive correlation between the serum levels of IL-37 and EDSS of patients (r = +0.31 and P = 0.00). In summary, the serum level of IL-37 was found to be significantly increased in MS patients compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, the mean serum level of IL-37 was correlated with disease severity. This suggests that IL-37 may be part of a feed-back loop to control underlying inflammation in MS pathogenesis. However, further studies will be required to indicate exact role of IL-37 in the MS pathomechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. mehrdadfarokhi72@yahoo.com.|Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Research Center, Isfahan, Iran. mehrdadfarokhi72@yahoo.com.|School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. mehrdadfarokhi72@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farrokhi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rezaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.|Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Research Center, Isfahan, Iran.|School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amani-Beni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.|Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Research Center, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Etemadifar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kouchaki
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
authors.forename: Abolfazl
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zahedi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood*; D009471:Neuromyelitis Optica / Q000097:blood*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: C508587:IL37 protein, human; D007375:Interleukin-1
keywords: ELISA; Inflammation; Interleukin-37 (IL-37); Multiple sclerosis; Neuromyelitis optica