THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS PROVOKED BY MYELIN OLIGODENDROCYTE GLYCOPROTEIN IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN UP-REGULATION OF BOTHPROINFLAMMATORY AND IMMUNOREGULATORY CYTOKINES IN THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an inflammatory dis ease of the central nervous system (CNS), We previously reported upreg ulation of gene expression for a number of proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), IL-2, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alph a (TNF-alpha), TNF-beta, and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), in the CNS of mice with myelin basic protein (MBP)-induced relapsing EAE by using semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR), However, in these mice there was no significant increase of gene expression for immunoregulatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, transforming growth factor-beta [TGF-beta]), We report here that gene expression fo r both proinflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines increased during the course of disease in the CNS of mice with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced non-relapsing EAE, These results indicate t hat the gene expression pattern of immunoregulatory cytokines in the C NS may be different between MBP-induced and MOG-induced EAE and that i t may influence the type of disease. Accordingly, the course of the di sease may be influenced by the interplay between the proinflammatory a nd immunoregulatory cytokines.