Lymphocyte migration and multiple sclerosis: relation with disease course and therapy.
Lymphocyte migration into the central nervous system is a central event in lesion formation in multiple sclerosis. By using a fibronectin-coated membrane Boyden chamber assay, we observed that migration rates of immediately ex vivo lymphocytes from patients with relapsing-remitting, with or without concurrent clinical relapse, or with secondary progressive disease, were increased compared with healthy donors. Migration rates of lymphocytes from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients receiving either glatiramer acetate (Copaxone 20 mg daily) or interferon-beta1b (Betaseron 8 MIU, three times per week) were significantly reduced compared with untreated relapsing-remitting patients. In vitro treatment with interferon-beta1b (1,000 U/ml), but not glatiramer acetate (20 microg/ml), significantly reduced lymphocyte-migration rates, suggesting that the effects of these two therapeutic agents on migration result from different mechanisms of actions. Interferon-beta1b acts, at least in part, by a direct effect on this cell property, whereas glatiramer acetate effects are indirect.[1]References
- Lymphocyte migration and multiple sclerosis: relation with disease course and therapy. Prat, A., Al-Asmi, A., Duquette, P., Antel, J.P. Ann. Neurol. (1999) [Pubmed]
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