CYTOKINE EXPRESSION BY INFLAMMATORY CELLS OBTAINED FROM THE SPINAL-CORDS OF LEWIS RATS WITH EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS INDUCED BY INOCULATION WITH MYELIN BASIC-PROTEIN AND ADJUVANTS

Inflammatory cells were obtained from the spinal cords of rats with ac ute experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by inocula tion with myelin basic protein (MBP) and adjuvants. Reverse transcript ase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to investigate the exp ression of mRNA for interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, IL-10 and interferon-g amma (IFN-gamma) by cells from groups of rats studied 10-21 days after inoculation. On all days of study, the inflammatory cells, which were predominantly lymphocytes, expressed mRNA for IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and I FN-gamma. in the mRNA from normal rat spinal cord tissue, there was li ttle expression of cytokine mRNA. Cells from a short-term MBP-reactive T cell line expressed all the cytokines. Densitometry was used to mea sure the products of PCR, to assess the expression of each cytokine re lative to that of beta-actin. IL-2 mRNA was expressed throughout the c ourse of disease and reached a peak on day 18, during late clinical re covery. IFN-gamma was expressed throughout the course of the disease a nd was also high during late recovery. IL-4 mRNA was present in the sp inal cord throughout the course of the disease, with a slight rise dur ing late recovery. Relative expression of IL-10 rose to a peal; on day s 17-19, during late recovery from clinical disease. This study indica tes that IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-gamma are expressed by inflammatory cells in the spinal cord in EAE, with the relative expression of all cytokines being high during late clinical recovery. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.