Cell surface adhesion molecules and cytokine profiles in primary progressive multiple sclerosis

¹ Department of Neurology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
² Baxter BioScience, Vienna, Austria
³ Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

Objective We evaluated the utility of adhesion molecule (AM) and cytokine/chemokine expressions in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as markers of disease activity in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS).

Methods The expressions of AMs and the levels of 17 cytokines in patients with PPMS (n=25) were compared with those in secondary progressive MS (SPMS) (n=18) and controls (n=11) and correlated with the volumes of focal and atrophic changes on MRI.

Results The expressions of very late activation antigen 4 (VLA-4), lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) in blood and CSF were higher in PPMS than in controls. Comparison between PPMS and SPMS showed higher levels of ICAM-1 in blood and CSF in PPMS, while the level of the vascular adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) was higher only in blood. There was no difference in the levels of cytokines in serum or CSF between PPMS and SPMS or controls, but evidence suggesting intrathecal synthesis of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) was found in PPMS. The expressions of CSF VLA-4 in PPMS correlated with the total volume of cerebral lesions and the number of diffuse brain lesions in MRI, while the amount of LFA-1 in CSF correlated with the number of spinal T2 lesions. The level of serum MIP-1beta correlated with the T2 lesion load and EDSS score in PPMS.

Conclusions The upregulated expressions of AMs in blood and CSF and evidence for intrathecal synthesis of MCP-1 and IL-8 in PPMS indicate the importance of inflammatory changes in the pathogenesis of PPMS.

Key Words: adhesion molecules, blood, CSF, cytokines, magnetic resonance imaging, primary progressive multiple sclerosis, secondary progressive multiple sclerosis

First published on March 15, 2007, doi:10.1177/1352458506075378

Multiple Sclerosis 2007;13:701.

A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2007


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