Abstract
Recent evidence emphasises a pivotal role for dendritic cells (DC) in the control of immunity by priming and tolerising T cells. DC capture and process antigens, express co-stimulatory molecules, migrate to lymphoid organs and secrete cytokines to initiate immune responses. In multiple sclerosis (MS), autoreactive T cells are proposed to play a pathogenic role by secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines, but studies on DC are lacking. To evaluate the involvement of DC in patients with MS, a modified procedure was used to prepare DC from blood of patients with MS and healthy subjects. DC were found to be potent stimulators of T cells in allogeneic and, to a lesser extent, in autologous mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR). Enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assays were adopted to determine levels of IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-10 secreting DC vs. mononuclear cells (MNC). Proportionally more DC than MNC secreted IFN-gamma and IL-10 in both MS and healthy subjects. Patients with MS had higher levels of IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IL-6 secreting DC than healthy subjects. The differences for IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha secreting cells were confined to the subgroup of untreated MS patients and not observed in the subgroup examined during ongoing treatment with IFN-beta. Circulating DC secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines may represent another focus for the study of both immuno-pathogenesis and therapeutic interventions in MS.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 82-90 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Neuroimmunology |
Volume | 99 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 1999 |
Keywords
- Adult
- Aged
- Animals
- Autoimmune Diseases/blood
- Cytokines/blood
- Dendritic Cells/secretion
- Female
- Humans
- Interferon-gamma/blood
- Interleukin-10/blood
- Interleukin-6/blood
- Lymphocyte Activation
- Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed
- Male
- Mice
- Middle Aged
- Multiple Sclerosis/blood
- T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/analysis