Flow cytometric analysis of in vitro proinflammatory cytokine secretion inperipheral blood from multiple sclerosis patients

The cytokines, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor-cu (TNF- alpha), and interleukin-2 (IL-2) are important endogenous proinflammatory: proteins and have been linked to disease activity in multiple sclerosis. In this study, we use flow cytometric methodology to compare the secretion of IFN-gamma, IL-2, and TNF-alpha from peripheral blood-derived T cells of mu ltiple sclerosis patients to the secretion in healthy controls. The percent ages of IFN-gamma, IL-2, and TNF-alpha secreting cells are not significantl y different between multiple sclerosis patients and controls. However, the TNF-alpha secreting CD3 cell percentage is correlated with the IFN-gamma an d IL-2 secreting CD3 cell percentages in multiple sclerosis patients. In th e controls, only the TNF-alpha secreting CD3 cell percentage is correlated with IFN-gamma. These findings show that correlated secretion of cytokines occurs in multiple sclerosis and suggest that concerted intercytokine inter actions may play an important role in the disease.