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Increased serum level of IL-37 in patients with multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica

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Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common autoimmune disease of central nervous system in which neurodegenerative and inflammatory mechanisms cause alternate neurological impairments. Many inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were suggested as contributor in MS pathogenesis, and the balance between these opposing cytokines can regulate MS severity. IL-37, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, is the most recently identified member of IL-1 family, which acts as a natural inhibitor of innate immunity. However, the role of IL-37 in MS has not investigated so far. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to measure serum level of IL-37 in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). In a case–control study, plasma was collected from healthy controls (n = 49) and also patients with RRMS (n = 122) and NMO (n = 31). Serum level measurement of IL-37 was performed using enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) method. The serum levels of IL-37 were 247.46 ± 74.02 and 312.00 ± 86.72 and 114.63 ± 20.58 in RRMS and NMO patients and healthy controls, respectively, showing statistically significant difference between them (P = 0.00). Furthermore, we found a positive correlation between the serum levels of IL-37 and EDSS of patients (r = +0.31 and P = 0.00). In summary, the serum level of IL-37 was found to be significantly increased in MS patients compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, the mean serum level of IL-37 was correlated with disease severity. This suggests that IL-37 may be part of a feed-back loop to control underlying inflammation in MS pathogenesis. However, further studies will be required to indicate exact role of IL-37 in the MS pathomechanisms.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that no conflict of interest exists.

Ethical standard

The protocol of study was approved by Ethical Committee on Human Research, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

Informed consent

Informed written consent was achieved from patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Mehrdad Farrokhi, Ali Amani-Beni & Masoud Etemadifar

  2. Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Research Center, Isfahan, Iran

    Mehrdad Farrokhi, Ali Amani-Beni & Masoud Etemadifar

  3. School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Mehrdad Farrokhi & Ali Amani-Beni

  4. Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    Ali Rezaei

  5. Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

    Ebrahim Kouchaki

  6. School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

    Abolfazl Zahedi

Authors
  1. Mehrdad Farrokhi
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  2. Ali Rezaei
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  3. Ali Amani-Beni
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  4. Masoud Etemadifar
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Correspondence to Mehrdad Farrokhi.

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Farrokhi, M., Rezaei, A., Amani-Beni, A. et al. Increased serum level of IL-37 in patients with multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. Acta Neurol Belg 115, 609–614 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-015-0491-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-015-0491-3

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