IL-21 and IL-21-producing T cells are involved in multiple sclerosis severity and progression.

IL-21 and IL-21-producing T cells are involved in multiple sclerosis severity and progression. Immunol Lett. 2019 Sep 20;: Authors: Gharibi T, Hosseini A, Marofi F, Oraei M, Jahandideh S, Abdollahpour-Alitappeh M, Hashemi V, Motallebnezhad M, Babaloo Z, Baradaran B Abstract Multiple sclerosis is a common neuroinflammatory disease of the central nervous system causing nervous system defects and severe physical disability. IL-21 is a proinflammatory cytokine produced mainly by Th-17 and Tfh cells which its exact role in MS was not yet clearly understood. In the present study we aimed to investigate the possible correlation of IL-21 gene expression, methylation, and its serum levels with MS severity and progression. The results showed that IL-21 mRNA level and serum level were significantly increased in patient group compared with control group (p = 0.02 and p < 0.0001 respectively). Moreover, we found a strong positive correlation between IL-21 mRNA levels and EDSS scores (r = 0.637, P < 0.0001), IL-21 mRNA levels and Progression Index (r = 0.540, P < 0.0001), IL-21 serum levels and EDSS scores (r = 0.617, P < 0.0001), and IL-21 serum levels and Progression Index (r = 0.527, P < 0.0001) in MS patients. Additionally, we found that the methylation level of IL-21 promoter region was decreased in patient group compared with the control group (p < 0.0001). We also found that meth...
Source: Immunology Letters - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Immunol Lett Source Type: research