Determination of cytokine levels in multiple sclerosis patients and their relevance with patients’ response to Cinnovex
HighlightsWe compared cytokine levels in IFN‐&bgr; responders and non‐responders multiple sclerosis patients.Comparison of cytokine levels revealed higher IFN‐&ggr; levels in HLA‐DRB1*04 positive patients compared with HLA‐DRB1*04 negative patients.IL‐17A levels tend to be higher in responder patients who were positive for HLA‐DRB1*04 compared with those were negative for the same allele. Abstract Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a heterogeneous chronic immune‐mediated disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) with several environmental and genetic factors participating in its development and disease course. Interferon (IFN)‐&bgr; therapy is considered as the first line treatment in this disorder. The present study enrolled 231 relapsing‐remitting MS patients who were diagnosed as IFN‐&bgr; responders (n = 146) and non‐responders (n = 85). Serum cytokine levels were analyzed by commercially available ELISA kits in distinct groups based on HLA‐A, ‐B and ‐DRB1 alleles. IFN‐&ggr; levels were significantly higher in responders compared with non‐responders, whereas IL‐17A and IL‐6 had the opposite trend. The levels of IL‐10 and IL‐4 were not significantly different between two groups. IFN‐&ggr; and IL‐17A levels were associated with response to IFN‐&bgr;. Comparison of cytokine levels revealed higher IFN‐&ggr; levels in HLA‐DRB1*04 positive patients (n = 72) compared with HLA‐DRB1*04 negative patients (n = 159). In responder group, patients who were positive for HLA‐DRB1*15 had significantly higher levels of IL‐6 compared to HLA‐DRB1*15 negative patients. IL‐17A levels tend to be higher in responder patients who were positive for HLA‐DRB1*04 compared with those were negative for the same allele. This study suggests that the serum levels of pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokines are different among IFN‐&bgr; responders and non‐responders. Future studies are needed to confirm their efficiency in determination of response to IFN‐&bgr; in MS patients.