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Soluble BAFF Level Is Not Correlated to Mycobacterium avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis Antibodies and Increases After Interferon-β Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

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Abstract

B cells are being recognized as one of the major players in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). The B cell activating factor (BAFF) system plays an essential role in B cell homeostasis and function in the periphery. Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) has been previously associated to MS in Sardinia. Antibodies against a MAP surface protein, MAP_2694, have been found significantly associated to MS patients, and this response was modified by interferon-β therapy. Increased BAFF levels following IFN-β therapy have been also described in MS patients. In this study, we evaluated whether soluble BAFF levels are comparable in men and women affected by MS and performed a correlation of the reported BAFF increase in MS patients under IFN-β therapy with changes of humoral response against MAP_2694. For these reasons, we investigated 44 MS patients before and after IFN-β therapy. A significant difference of BAFF levels was found between men and women with MS; moreover, we confirmed that IFN-β therapy strongly induces BAFF serum levels, but this was not related to the modification of immunological response against MAP_2694. In conclusion, our study highlights that IFN-β therapy induces the potent B cell survival factor BAFF without alterations of the humoral immune response against MAP.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from FISM and Fondazione Banco di Sardegna.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Sezione di Microbiologia e Virologia, Università di Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43 b, 07100, Sassari, Italy

    Giuseppe Mameli, Davide Cossu, Elisa Caggiu, Giannina Arru, Magdalena Niegowska & Leonardo A Sechi

  2. Centro Sclerosi Multipla, Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica Medicina Clinica e Molecolare, Università di Cagliari, Via Is Guadazzonis 2, 09126, Cagliari, Italy

    Eleonora Cocco, Jessica Frau & Maria Giovanna Marrosu

Authors
  1. Giuseppe Mameli
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  2. Davide Cossu
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  3. Elisa Caggiu
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  4. Giannina Arru
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  5. Magdalena Niegowska
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  6. Eleonora Cocco
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  7. Jessica Frau
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  8. Maria Giovanna Marrosu
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  9. Leonardo A Sechi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leonardo A Sechi.

Ethics declarations

Forty-four patients (30 females and 14 males; mean age ± SD was 39.8 ± 9.2 years) diagnosed with MS according to the McDonald 2010 criteria (Polman et al. 2011) were enrolled in the study after obtaining written informed consent. The local ethic committee (ASL, Sassari) approved the study.

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Mameli, G., Cossu, D., Caggiu, E. et al. Soluble BAFF Level Is Not Correlated to Mycobacterium avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis Antibodies and Increases After Interferon-β Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis Patients. J Mol Neurosci 60, 91–93 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-016-0787-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-016-0787-7

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