title: Th1, Th2 and Th17 Cytokine Profile in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Following Treatment with Rapamycin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Management of multiple sclerosis (MS) is based on the usage of immunosuppressive and immune-modulating medications. Cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of MS.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of rapamycin on the concentrations of Th1/Th2/Th17 serum cytokines in patients with MS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six patients with relapsing remitting MS as a case group and 6 healthy individuals as a control group were enrolled. The patients have been receiving 2 mg rapamycin daily for 6 months. The individuals in control group received nothing during 6 months of the experiment. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (Simultaneous Multi-Analyte ELISA) technique was used for determination of serum concentrations of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17, IFN-γ, TNF-α, G-CSF and TGF-β before and after therapy with rapamycin.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean absorbance of 10 out of the 12 studied cytokines showed reduction after the therapy with rapamycin including IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17, IFN-γ and TNF-α. The only statistically significant reduction was observed in the absorbance of IFN-γ (p=0.028). Two cytokines illustrated increase in the patients sera after the therapy, including G-CSF and TGF-β, but only increase in TGF-β was statistically significant (p=0.046). None of the studied cytokines in the control group varied significantly after 6 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the findings of this study, rapamycin has some immunosuppressive effects, such as decreasing IFN -γ, which can improve the quality of life of the patients with multiple sclerosis. Also the increased level of TGF-β may also have benefits on the disease, which needs further clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran, e-mail: m_salehi@med.mui.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mansour
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salehi
authors.forename: Bahram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bagherpour
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shayghannejad
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mohebi
authors.forename: Rasool
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jafari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood*; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D020123:Sirolimus