Th1, Th2 and Th17 Cytokine Profile in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Following Treatment with Rapamycin

• Published in: Iranian journal of immunology Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 141 - 147
• Main Authors: Salehi, Mansour, Bagherpour, Bahram, Shayghannejad, Vahid, Mohebi, Farzaneh, Jafari, Rasool
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Iran Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research 01.06.2016; Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
• Subjects: Absorbance; Adult; Cerebrospinal fluid; Clinical trials; Colleges & universities; Cytokine Profile; Cytokines; Disease; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Experiments; Female; Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor - blood; Helper cells; Humans; Immunomodulation; Infections; Interferon; Interferon-gamma - blood; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 12; Interleukin 13; Interleukin 17; Interleukin 2; Interleukin 4; Interleukin 5; Interleukin 6; Iran; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Male; Medical research; Multiple Sclerosis; Multiple Sclerosis - drug therapy; Multiple Sclerosis - immunology; Nervous system; Pathogenesis; Patients; Quality of life; Rapamycin; Rodents; Sirolimus - therapeutic use; Statistical analysis; Th1 Cells - drug effects; Th1 Cells - immunology; Th17 Cells - drug effects; Th17 Cells - immunology; Th2 Cells - drug effects; Th2 Cells - immunology; Transforming Growth Factor beta - blood; Transforming growth factor-b; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Young Adult; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 1735-1383; 1735-367X

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. To evaluate the effects of rapamycin on the concentrations of Th1/Th2/Th17 serum cytokines in patients with MS. 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. 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. 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.