IMMUNOCOMPETENCE OF HUMAN MICROVASCULAR BRAIN ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS - CYTOKINE REGULATION OF IL-1-BETA, MCP-1, IL-10, SICAM-1 AND SVCAM-1

Endothelia from the brains of four patients undergoing neurosurgery, i ncluding one multiple sclerosis (MS) patient, were studied in vitro to determine cytokine and chemokine production; the release of soluble a dhesion molecules was also investigated. The same procedure was repeat ed on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in order to dete ct possible district-specific differences. After isolation, the endoth elium was cultured and stimulated with gamma-interferon (IFN), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and LPS. The results showed that bra in endothelium, in our experimental conditions, does not produce inter leukin (IL)-10 and produces lower amounts of IL-1 beta and soluble int ercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) than HUVECs do; no difference s were detected in soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) production. MCP-1 mRNA was detected both without and after stimulatio n with TNF-alpha and gamma-IFN in HUVECs and MS human brain endothelia l cells (HBECs), while in non-MS-HBECs it was found only after gamma-I FN stimulation.