Effects of interferon and glatiramer acetate on cytokine patterns in multiple sclerosis patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable autoimmune disease, which causes neurodegeneration in the central nervous system. Since the main cause of MS remains obscure, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the serum levels of some cytokines, including interleukin-5 (IL-5), IL-8, IL-9, IL-17A, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in relapsing-remitting (RR)-MS patients, treated with IFN-beta and glatiramer acetate (GA). Serum samples of RR-MS patients, treated with high-dose IFN-beta 1a, low-dose IFN-beta 1a, IFN-beta 1b, and GA, were assessed by ELISA assay and then compared with the results of treatment-naive patients and healthy controls. The findings showed that the serum levels of IL-8, IL-9, and IFN-gamma in treatment-naive patients were significantly higher than the healthy controls, while there was no significant difference in terms of other cytokines between the groups. A significant reduction was observed in the levels of IL-9 and IFN-gamma, while there was a significant increase in TGF-beta level among patients treated with GA. IFN-beta 1b resulted in a significant decline in the levels of IL-9 and TGF-beta. In addition to these findings, some cytokines were positively correlated in different groups. Overall, the present results support the inflammatory and aggravating effects of IL-8, IL-9, and IFN-gamma on MS. Furthermore, based on the results reported in the GA treatment group, we suggest GA as an effective treatment for RR-MS patients.