SELEGILINE STIMULATES BIOSYNTHESIS OF CYTOKINES INTERLEUKIN-1-BETA AND INTERLEUKIN-6

SEVERAL lines of evidence indicate an immune-mediated pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). In clinical studies the monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor Selegiline appears to slow t he progression of neurological deficits in PD and the cognitive declin e in AD. The immune response to bacterial or viral infection and in ch ronic inflammatory processes is stimulated by an increased synthesis o f the cytokines interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and subsequently interl eukin-6 (IL-6). We investigated the influence of Selegiline on the syn thesis of IL-1 beta and IL-6 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PB MC) from healthy blood donors cultured with or without Selegiline (10( -8) M, 10(-9) M or 10(-10) M) in a humidified atmosphere (7% CO2). Tre atment of cultured PBMC with Selegiline significantly increased synthe sis of both cytokines. The effect of Selegiline on cytokine biosynthes is may contribute to its putative neuroprotective properties.