Pleiotrophin serum level is increased in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis and correlates with sex, BMI and treatment

Purpose: Multiple sclerosis is the immune-mediated disorder whose etiology is not completely understood. The present study aimed to survey association between the promoter polymorphism IL18 -607C/A (rs1946518), the serum concentration of IL-18 and susceptibility to relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in Bulgarian patients Material and Methods: This case-control study includes 159 RRMS patients with disease-modifying therapy (DMT) and 162 age-sex-matched healthy volunteers. All included subjects were genotyped by ARMS-PCR while serum levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Our results revealed significant differences in the serum levels of IL-18 according to the gender, the onset of disease and the type of disease-modifying therapy. The serum levels of IL-18 are significantly higher in RRMS men compared to RRMS women and the RRMS men with late-onset of the disease (above 30 years) also demonstrated significantly increased serum levels than the women with late-onset of disease and even with healthy men. The RRMS patients treated with interferon-beta showed significantly increased IL-18 serum level than those treated with glatiramer acetate. Conclusions: Our study shows that the promoter polymorphism IL18 -607C/A is not associated with susceptibility to RRMS in Bulgarian patients as well as the serum level of the cytokine. The observed differences in the serum level of IL-18 in RRMS patients according to gender and the response to therapy could be used as a biomarker to the course of the disease.

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Serum level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis: a potential biomarker for disease activity

The Egyptian Journal of Neurology Psychiatry and Neurosurgery ◽

10.1186/s41983-021-00296-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mohammed I. Oraby ◽

Hatem A. El Masry ◽

Sanaa S. Abd El Shafy ◽

Esraa M. Abdul Galil

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Serum Level ◽

Disease Activity ◽

Linear Correlation ◽

Neurotrophic Factor ◽

Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor ◽

Bdnf Level ◽

Relapsing Remitting ◽

Remitting Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract Background Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is secreted by immune cells in response to neuroimmune and inflammatory cascades as an act to prevent axonal and neuronal damage after various pathological insults. The serum level of BDNF is altered in a diversity of neurological diseases. The aim of this work was to investigate the serum level of BDNF in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis and the relation between BDNF and disease activity and severity. Methods A case–control study was conducted on 90 subjects: 60 patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (30 in relapse and 30 in remission) on different lines of medical treatment and 30 healthy volunteers as a control. Clinical, functional, and radiological evaluation was done for the patients, and all the patients and controls were subjected to assessment of the serum level of BDNF by sandwich-ELISA technique. Results The BDNF level was significantly higher in MS patients in relapse than in patients in remission (P value = 0.006). In the remission group, there was no significant linear correlation between different MS patients’ characteristics and BDNF level, while in the relapse group, a positive linear correlation was found between the number of T2 infratentorial lesions and BDNF level (r = 0.402, P = 0.028). There was no statistically significant difference between the BDNF level in patients administered different drugs for MS in both remission and relapse groups (P value > 0.05). Conclusion BDNF was significantly higher in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis patients in the relapse phase. Attention should be paid to the link between serum BDNF level as a neuroprotective factor and multiple sclerosis; it can be a biomarker for MS activity in the near future.

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